FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — The federal judge overseeing the classified documents case against Donald Trump was holding a hearing on Friday about a potential conflict of interest involving a co-defendant’s lawyer.
Prosecutors say lawyer Stanley Woodward, who represents Trump valet Walt Nauta, has a conflict because he previously represented an information technology specialist who’s expected to be a key government witness at trial and represents another person who may be called to testify.
Nauta is charged along with the Republican former president with scheming to conceal classified government documents from federal investigators. The prosecutors want to ensure at Friday’s hearing that Nauta understands the situation with his lawyer and knowingly forfeits his right to conflict-free legal representation.
Prosecutors have described the witness as an IT director at Trump’s Palm Beach complex, Mar-a-Lago, who was asked to delete surveillance video there in an apparent effort to obstruct the federal investigation. The witness retracted “prior false testimony” after switching lawyers last summer from Woodward to an attorney in the federal defender’s office, prosecutors have said. The IT specialist has since struck a cooperation agreement with prosecutors and is expected to be a witness as the case proceeds to a trial next May.