Another Trump co-defendant accused of attorney conflict: report

Yet another Donald Trump co-defendant has been accused of having conflicted counsel in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, according to reports.

Earlier in August, the Department of Justice said it might warrant disqualification that the lawyer representing Walt Nauta, the longtime Trump-aide who was first indicted alongside the former President in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, due to a possible conflict of interest. Now, Special Counsel Jack Smith has made a similar complaint about the later-charged property manager, Carlos De Oliveira, according to the Guardian's report.

"Special counsel prosecutors asked on Wednesday for a hearing to inform the Mar-a-Lago club’s maintenance chief, charged with helping Donald Trump to obstruct the government’s attempt to retrieve the classified documents at the property, that his lawyer might be hamstrung at trial due to potential conflicts of interest," the report states. "The issue, according to prosecutors, is that De Oliveira’s lawyer, John Irving, represents three other witnesses who provided incriminating evidence against Carlos De Oliveira and could be called to testify against him at trial."

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Specifically, team Smith explains in an 11-page court filing, that "the potential conflicts could mean Irving might not be able to defend De Oliveira as forcefully as he would have otherwise because he needed to protect the interests of those other clients, described as 'Witness 1', 'Witness 2' and 'Trump employee 3'."

“An attorney who cross-examines a client inherently encounters divided loyalties,” prosecutors wrote, according to the report. “A hearing would permit colloquy with Mr Irving’s clients to inform them of potential risks and inquire into possible waivers.”

The report further notes that De Oliveira "was charged in a superseding indictment last month as a co-defendant with Trump and his valet Walt Nauta, after he and Nauta allegedly sought to delete subpoenaed surveillance tapes outside the storage room where the classified documents were kept, and later lied about their efforts to the FBI."

Read it here.