WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors broadened their criminal case against Donald Trump on Thursday as they charged a second of his employees with helping the former president evade officials who were trying to recover sensitive national security documents he took from the White House.
Special Counsel Jack Smith charged Carlos De Oliveira, a maintenance worker at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, with conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements, and destroying documents.
His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Media outlets have said that De Oliveira helped to hide the documents from officials who tried to recover them.
Trump pleaded not guilty in Miami last month to federal charges of unlawfully retaining the classified government documents after leaving office in 2021 and obstructing justice. Prosecutors accused him of risking some of the most sensitive U.S. national security secrets.
Another Trump aide, Walt Nauta, also pleaded not guilty earlier this month to charges he helped the former president hide those documents.
Trump faces a second federal investigation into his attempts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He said earlier on Thursday that his attorneys met with prosecutors, in a sign that another set of criminal charges could come soon.
(Reporting by Tim Ahmann and Dan Whitcomb; writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Grant McCool)
