Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary and director of communications during Donald Trump’s presidency, explained on Monday why she believes the latest defendant in the classified Justice Department documents case will not turn against the former president.
Carlos de Oliveira, Mar-a-Lago property manager and former butler He made his court debut On Monday, he was accused of helping Trump aide Walt Nauta, who is also indicted, move boxes containing classified files on Trump’s Florida estate. The indictment was also overturned Accuse De Oliveira lied to FBI investigators when he told them in a voluntary interview that he knew nothing about the funds.
Grisham said Trump likes to hire employees who feel “grateful” to him and feel indebted to him.
“I think he picks and chooses vulnerable people to surround him with — and by the way I put myself in that group,” Grisham, an outspoken critic of the former president since leaving the administration, said. By CNN’s Erin Burnett.
Grisham added that it would be difficult for someone like de Oliveira to let Trump go, since he still works for Trump and covers his legal expenses.
“You go out into this world without a Trump pillow and it’s very scary and not very friendly, I have to tell you,” she said.
“I think it’s a basic necessity for survival that someone like Carlos not turn on Trump,” Grisham continued.
De Oliveira was scheduled to be charged on August 10. Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty.
