Special counsel Jack Smith wants to hold a hearing on the potential "divided loyalties" of an attorney who is representing both former President Donald Trump's body man Walt Nauta — one of his alleged co-conspirators — and several people who may be testifying as witnesses against the former president, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
"Prosecutors questioned whether Stanley Woodward Jr., a lawyer in Washington who has represented at least seven witnesses in the case, could effectively defend Mr. Nauta in compliance with conflict-of-interest rules while also representing Trump employees who might be called upon to take the stand against Mr. Nauta, the former president’s valet and personal aide," reported Glenn Thrush and Alan Feuer. A prosecutor working for Smith, Jay Bratt, filed a motion with Judge Aileen Cannon voicing "particular concern about Mr. Woodward’s continued representation of Mr. Nauta after one of Mr. Woodward’s former clients, Yuscil Tavares, apparently began cooperating with investigators. Mr. Tavares is an information technology worker at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s private club and residence in Florida."
According to the news report, Bratt asked Cannon to “procure independent counsel” to attend the hearing and “advise Mr. Woodward’s clients regarding the potential conflicts.”
It is unclear when Cannon, a controversial Trump appointee who has come under fire for previously intervening in the case in highly unusual ways that benefit the former president, will rule on the matter.
Trump was charged with Espionage Act offenses and obstruction, with Nauta also being charged, after federal agents uncovered a trove of highly classified national defense information hidden in boxes at the former president's Mar-a-Lago country club.
Last week, Smith secured a superseding indictment against Trump, alleging that he, Nauta, and a Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker named Carlos De Oliveira plotted to destroy subpoenaed security footage on the property.
