Jack Smith slams Trump valet's new trial stall tactic as 'manufactured and not credible'

Federal prosecutors slammed former President Donald Trump's body man Walt Nauta for his latest push to delay the trial proceedings in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, in a blistering filing made public on Friday.

Specifically, Nauta has filed for an extension on the May 9 deadline U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon set for expert disclosures filed by the defendants, and a notice under the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA).

"Originally, Nauta had counted on leveraging his counsel’s vacation and trial schedule to delay the proceedings," stated the filing. "But when his counsel’s trial schedule excuse evaporated, Nauta was forced to devise a new basis — that the Government’s discovery is insufficient for him to identify the classified evidence he wants to disclose at trial and to notice any expert testimony. Nauta’s latest basis for delay is both factually wrong."

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"In his motion, Nauta resorts to a familiar tactic by trying to paint a confusing and misleading picture of the state of discovery, but at bottom, his arguments are uncomplicated," said the filing. "First, as to CIPA Section 5, Nauta claims that he cannot make the required disclosures without knowing 'for certain' (a) which documents produced in classified discovery were recovered from boxes in the Storage Room; and (b) where those documents were found in the boxes. ECF No. 507 at 10. Both claims are flawed. The premise of the first — that Nauta has not been informed which documents came from storage room boxes — is inaccurate. Nauta was provided that information many months ago. The conclusion of the second — that Nauta needs to know where the documents were within each box in order to make a CIPA Section 5 disclosure — is recently manufactured and not credible."

The filing concluded by urging the judge to hold Nauta to the deadline she set back in April. "The Government has timely met and exceeded its obligations, and there is no further information that Nauta needs to make any expert disclosure regarding the forensic examination of his devices."

Nauta is one of two co-defendants indicted alongside Trump in the classified documents case, the other being Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira. They are accused of helping Trump move the illegally held boxes of documents around to conceal them from authorities, and conspiring to try to destroy security footage of it.