The anonymous witness in Donald Trump's classified documents case went public Monday in spite of what a onetime aide to the former president describes as a "mob bunker mentality," she says.
The Mar-a-Lago witness known in court papers as "Trump Employee 5" — who came forward to identify himself as Brian Butler — dished to CNN on his former boss of two decades in a bombshell interview.
Trump, his valet Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos De Oliveira stand accused of illegally hoarding classified documents at the Mar-a-Lago estate and attempting to obstruct when the FBI and Justice Department investigators came to recover them, court records show.
They have all pleaded not guilty.
Butler recalled Monday a day when he loaded nearly a dozen boxes onto Trump's private plane and the moment he was told the former president would get him an attorney.
That offer struck a chord with Trump's former White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham.
"It's kind of this mob bunker mentality that 'We will pay for your lawyer, we will take care of you, you stick with us and no one can touch you,'" Grisham said.
Grisham also noted small details that she said painted a larger picture of what it was like to work for Trump.
"The mob mentality really rang true to me," she said. "[Butler] called him the boss, which is what we called him, then there were the loyalty tests."
Grisham recalled also how much Trump made it paramount to have boxes at the ready wherever he traveled when he was serving as commander-in-chief "or there would be hell to pay."
She predicted a tough road ahead for Butler in the face of stark criticism from the right.
"It's scary and it cost you a lot money to speak out," she said. "He's not gaining anything from doing this.
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