Former President Donald Trump was spotted on Friday with his longtime valet and body man Walt Nauta — both of whom are charged in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case — ordering food at Pat's King of Steaks, a Philadelphia cheesesteak shop widely considered a tourist trap by locals.
The image, taken by CNN field producer Jim Simon and reported by anchor Kaitlan Collins, swiftly triggered an avalanche of mockery on social media.
Many accounts found hilarity in the fact that, given Nauta's arraignment had to be pushed back to July and he still has no lawyer representing him cleared to practice law in South Florida, he and his boss would be doing this with their time. "An excellent place to find SDFL lawyers," tweeted civil liberties reporter Marcy Wheeler. "Having a Philly cheesesteak instead of finding a Florida defense lawyer. Got it," tweeted conservative attorney George Conway.
"One Whiz, wit," wrote comedian Jay Black, referencing a common Philadelphia expression for ordering cheesesteak. "Also, you wanna see some nuclear secrets?!"
"He doesn’t let Walt out of his sight," tweeted attorney and ex-Republican operative Ron Filipkowski. "Poor guy can save his own ass by cooperating and telling the truth, but Trump will make damn sure he drags him right down with him." Attorney Hilary Luros, meanwhile, had a blunter take: "TIC (Traitor-in-Chief), taking the time to introduce Walt to the only employment he’ll have as a convicted felon."
Former President Donald Trump was charged by special counsel Jack Smith with dozens of counts under the Espionage Act, for his stash of highly classified national defense information concealed at his Mar-a-Lago resort. The indictment alleges that the former president not only refused to give back the documents to investigators and lied about not having them, but also ordered Nauta to move around the boxes from room to room so even his own lawyers wouldn't know he had them.
