Carlos De Oliveira, accompanied by Washington D.C. attorney John Irving, appeared in a Miami federal court on Monday. He was released on a $100,000 bond and was ordered to turn over his passport.
De Oliveira, an employee at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in West Palm Beach, was indicted on Thursday on four felony charges, including one allegation that he conspired to delete surveillance footage at the property last year.
The co-defendant in Trump’s classified documents trial did not make a formal plea. His arraignment was postponed until August 10 in Fort Pierce, the Palm Beach Post reported.
De Oliveira must have an attorney licensed to practice in the Southern District of Florida to represent him before he can enter a plea at an arraignment. Like co-defendant Walt Nauta, a Trump aide, De Oliveira has had trouble finding a Florida attorney.
Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres restricted De Oliveira from traveling outside southern Florida unless the court approved.
Filings also show De Oliveira is prohibited from speaking about the case with any witnesses the Justice Department has identified.
The updated indictment in the classified documents case also includes three new charges against Trump, including attempting to “alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal evidence,” The New York Times reported.
At the 10-minute hearing, Torres asked the prosecutors if Trump should be arraigned on these new charges in Miami this week or in Fort Pierce at De Oliveira’s arraignment. They delayed making a decision.
Following the proceeding, reporters asked De Oliveira and Irving for comment.
“The Justice Department has unfortunately decided to bring these charges against Mr. De Oliveira,” Irving said, according to The New York Times. “Now it’s time for them to put their money where their mouth is.”
Irving declined to say whether De Oliveira was asked to testify against Trump, the Palm Beach Post reported.
On his Truth Social page, Trump denied wrongdoing. He said that Mar-a-Lago security tapes were voluntarily handed over to investigators and that he was told the tapes were not “deleted in any way, shape or form.”
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon tentatively scheduled Trump’s classified documents case to start on May 20. Trump’s attorneys have asked for a postponement until after the 2024 presidential election.
Trump said last week on “The John Fredericks Show” that a conviction would not derail his campaign.
“Not at all. There’s nothing in the Constitution to say that it could,” Trump said, according to Fox News. “Even the radical left crazies are saying, ‘No, that wouldn’t stop!’ And it wouldn’t stop me either.”
