Yuscil Taveras, the former director of information technology at Mar-a-Lago, has reportedly promised to cooperate with the office of special counsel Jack Smith in exchange for not facing criminal charges.
The former IT director has reportedly consented to testify in the trials of former President Donald Trump, his aide Walt Nauta, and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, who have been charged with offenses arising from Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Each of Trump, Nauta, and De Oliveira has entered a not-guilty plea.
“One of the key players has flipped against former president trump and is cooperating with the special counsel jack Smith” pic.twitter.com/bjNRvWj97K
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 6, 2023
Taveras, listed as “Trump Employee 4” in the indictment, entered into the agreement with federal prosecutors after receiving a target letter in June from Smith, warning that he was likely to be charged with perjury for allegedly making false statements to a grand jury in March, according to ABC News.
Taveras changed attorneys after obtaining the target letter; he was previously represented by Stanley Woodward, Nauta’s attorney.
Prosecutors contended, according to CNN, that Woodward would face conflicts of interest “if the defense lawyer has to cross-examine his former client.”
According to sources, under the agreement Smith’s office reached with Taveras, the special counsel “agreed not to prosecute Taveras for allegedly perjuring himself in exchange for his truthful testimony that detailed the conduct underpinning the new obstruction allegations in the superseding indictment” filed against Trump, Nauta, and De Oliveira in July, as reported by ABC News.
“In his prior testimony, sources said Taveras had denied speaking to De Oliveira about a request from Nauta to delete surveillance footage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate that allegedly showed the movement of boxes containing classified materials after Trump had received a subpoena from the government demanding he return any such materials remaining in his possession,” the outlet added.
The superseding indictment alleged that De Oliveira pressured Taveras to expunge the server containing surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago at the request of “the boss,” a reference to Trump.
Taveras responded that he did not believe he had the authority to do so without the permission of a Trump Organization security employee.
ABC News reported that Trump, Nauta, and De Oliveira have not been charged with deleting the footage.
The New York Post reported in July that Trump denied ordering the security footage to be expunged and that Smith’s office is in possession of the entire collection.
In a post on Truth Social in July, the 45th president wrote in all capital letters, “MAR-A-LAGO SECURITY TAPES WERE NOT DELETED. THEY WERE VOLUNTARILY HANDED OVER TO THE THUGS, HEADED UP BY DERANGED JACK SMITH. WE DID NOT EVEN GO TO COURT TO STOP THEM FROM GETTING THESE TAPES. I NEVER TOLD ANYBODY TO DELETE THEM.”
“PROSECUTORIAL FICTION & MISCONDUCT! ELECTION INTERFERENCE!” the former president added.
The Post reported that Trump attorney Alina Habba stated on “Fox News Sunday” at the time, “What was the obstruction of justice? Because no tapes were deleted. He turned them over, he cooperated as he always does. But they would like the American public to believe in these bogus indictments,” referring to federal prosecutors.
“When he has his turn in court and when we get to file our papers, you will see that every single video, every single surveillance tape that was requested, was turned over,” she continued.
“If President Trump didn’t want something turned over,” Habba said, “I assure you, that is something that could have been done. But he never would act like that.”