Who is Walt Nauta, the Trump aide indicted in classified documents case?

Editor’s note: This file has been updated to reflect the number of criminal counts Walt Nauta faces, per a federal indictment.

The Justice Department’s unsealed indictment released Friday named Walt Nauta, an aide to former President Trump, as a co-conspirator alongside the former president in connection to the classified documents probe at Mar-a-Lago.

The 49-page indictment includes 37 counts against Trump and six counts against Nauta, a military veteran who worked as a valet for Trump in the White House and followed him to Mar-a-Lago after he left office. The indictment revealed how Nauta was allegedly involved in moving boxes of classified documents to keep them from investigators and even one of Trump’s own lawyers.

One of Trump’s attorneys had planned to visit the storage room to verify that Trump had complied with the subpoena asking for what classified information remained in his possession. The indictment details how Trump questioned what would happen if they ignored the subpoena and described how Trump directed Nauta to move 64 boxes of classified documents from the storage room where the attorney planned to look to Trump’s residence.

The indictment also describes how Nauta allegedly discovered that some of the boxes in the storage room in Mar-a-Lago had fallen over, spilling documents labeled as “secret.”

Nauta was charged with making false statements in interviews with the FBI in the 38th count of the indictment. He was notified on May 24 that he was a target of the grand jury investigation. 

The New York Times reported that Nauta is originally from Guam and joined the military at some point before working as a valet in Trump’s White House. Trump said on a Truth Social post Friday that Nauta has “done a fantastic job,” adding that the investigators are “trying to destroy his life.”

“I have just learned that the ‘Thugs’ from the Department of Injustice will be Indicting a wonderful man, Walt Nauta, a member of the U.S. Navy, who served proudly with me in the White House, retired as Senior Chief, and then transitioned into private life as a personal aide. He has done a fantastic job!” Trump wrote.

“They are trying to destroy his life, like the lives of so many others, hoping that he will say bad things about ‘Trump.’ He is strong, brave, and a Great Patriot. The FBI and DOJ are CORRUPT!,” he added.

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said Sunday that Nauta has been described to her and her colleagues as not political, adding that he likely was just doing what he was told to do and not playing a “side game.” She also said that he serves as a “case study” for those who become close to the former president.

“I think there’s an open question as to whether prosecutors are now going to try to pressure him to accept a plea deal and cooperate,” she said on ABC’s “This Week.” “But I do think that Walt Nauta is a case study and what happens to people who are loyal to Trump, and we have seen that over and over.” 

Updated at 12:26 p.m. June 13