Key Witness In Trump's Mar-A-Lago Case Flips After Receiving Target Letter In Classified Documents Probe

Mar-a-Lago IT worker, Yuscil Taveras, changed his grand jury testimony in a special counsel investigation, implicating former President Donald Trump and two of his aides after receiving a target letter.

What Happened: The special counsel’s team alleged in Tuesday’s court filing that Taveras said he was pressurized to delete resort security footage, CBS News reported.

Taveras switched his legal counsel and revised his testimony after being tagged as a target in the investigation. Court documents reveal that Taveras initially denied or claimed not to remember any discussions about the security footage at Mar-a-Lago. Post the indictments of Trump and his aide Walt Nauta for illegal retention of classified information and obstruction of the investigation, Taveras reportedly changed his testimony in July.

Investigators subpoenaed the footage in question to probe the alleged movement of boxes containing classified material inside the Florida resort. Trump, Nauta, and maintenance worker Carlos de Oliveira were charged on July 27 with crimes, including alleged attempts to pressurize Taveras to delete the footage.

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Court documents did not confirm if the video was deleted but suggested Taveras did not succumb to the alleged pressure. All three defendants pleaded not guilty and Trump denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the prosecution as politically motivated.

Why It Matters: Trump became the first president in history to face federal charges for his alleged mishandling of classified documents. His former White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, claimed to have seen Trump sharing classified documents with guests at Mar-a-Lago.

Surveillance footage showed Trump’s personal aide, Nauta, moving dozens of boxes before a Justice Department search in June 2022. Later, Mar-a-Lago’s property manager, Carlos De Oliveira, was also charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and providing false statements to the FBI.

Photo by Wangkun Jia on Shutterstock

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