Prosecutors demand testimony from White House cook on Trump's handling of secret documents: report

On Monday, The New York Timesreported that federal prosecutors are trying to compel testimony about former President Donald Trump's classified document stash from Walt Nauta, a military valet and cook who served Trump at the White House and Mar-a-Lago, and bringing him bottles of Diet Coke.

"Prosecutors have indicated they are skeptical of an initial account Mr. Nauta gave investigators about moving documents stored at Mar-a-Lago and are using the specter of charges against him for misleading investigators to persuade him to sit again for questioning, according to two people briefed on the matter," reported Michael S. Schmidt, Maggie Haberman, and Alan Feuer.

This comes shortly after reports that among the documents seized from Trump by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago are Iranian missile secrets and knowledge about spy operations against China — some of the most heavily classified and compromising national security information in the government's possession.

"Proving intent is often a challenge for prosecutors, and that hurdle has repeatedly come up in various investigations into Mr. Trump. To that end, prosecutors are particularly focused on Mr. Nauta because he could provide insight into Mr. Trump’s intentions as he parried the Justice Department’s attempts to reclaim the documents from him at the same time the materials were moved around at Mar-a-Lago," said the report. "If the boxes were moved against the Justice Department’s wishes or to conceal them from the authorities, it could help prosecutors in developing the obstruction investigation."

Also in the crosshairs of the Justice Department is Kash Patel, who recently testified before a grand jury on the matter.

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"Mr. Patel was designated by Mr. Trump this year as one of his representatives to the National Archives and Records Administration to deal with his presidential records, particularly in relation to materials from the investigation into whether Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign had ties to Russia," noted the report.