The team of special counsel Jack Smith acknowledged in a court filing on Monday that his staff did not turn over all evidence to the legal team of former President Donald Trump, despite previously asserting that they had.
Smith has filed 40 counts against Trump, alleging that he unlawfully retained classified documents after leaving office and lied to the government about handing over all documents.
Newsweek reported that on July 27, Smith’s team filed a “superseding indictment” in which they accused Trump of ordering his security staff to delete security recordings from his Mar-a-Lago resort only a few months before the FBI raided the Florida residence.
The indictment also names Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira and Trump associate Waltine “Walt” Nauta.
Prosecutors claim that De Oliveira informed a Mar-a-Lago employee that “the boss” wanted a security server deleted.
JUST IN: Donald Trump accuses special counsel Jack Smith of “prosecutorial misconduct” as he flat out denies the accusation that he told his head of maintenance to delete security footage.
According to the indictment, head of maintenance Carlos De Oliveira told an employee that… pic.twitter.com/ZfH7I1mQs3
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 30, 2023
Currently, it appears that Smith is concealing surveillance footage.
According to Newsweek, Smith’s team acknowledged in a court filing on July 31 that they failed to upload video footage from Mar-a-Lago to an online platform where Trump’s defense team could examine it as required by law.
“On July 27, as part of the preparation for the superseding indictment coming later that day and the discovery production for Defendant De Oliveira, the Government learned that this footage had not been processed and uploaded to the platform established for the defense to view the subpoenaed footage,” read the filing.
It continued: “The Government’s representation at the July 18 hearing that all surveillance footage the Government had obtained pre-indictment had been produced was therefore incorrect.”
The Brady rule is a legal standard requiring the prosecution to disclose any exculpatory evidence that will be used against the defendant in court.
Prosecutors MUST NOT WITHHOLD EVIDENCE that can be exculpatory. The rule was crystallized in Brady v. Maryland, a 1963 Supreme Court decision.
“Suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused who has requested it VIOLATES DUE PROCESS where the evidence is…
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) March 12, 2023
Smith’s team acknowledged this in last week’s court filing, writing: “The Government is aware of its continuing duty to disclose such newly discovered additional information.”
According to the Epoch Times, when Smith’s team first announced the superseding indictment, Trump’s campaign called it a “desperate and flailing attempt” to prevent the former president from running for office again in 2024.
“Deranged Jack Smith knows that they have no case and is casting about for any way to salvage their illegal witch hunt and to get someone other than Donald Trump to run against Crooked Joe Biden,” his campaign said at the time, according to the Times.
Trump on Truth Social:
“IF YOU COME AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” pic.twitter.com/iByibOGhbX
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 4, 2023
Trump is presently the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, with the majority of polls placing him well clear of competitors such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence.