WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against Donald Trump refused Saturday to throw out charges against a co-defendant of the former president.
Lawyers for Walt Nauta, Trump's personal valet, had asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to dismiss the indictment against their client. They argued, among other things, that Nauta was charged because of insufficient cooperation with prosecutors' investigation and because of a personal animus that they say prosecutors harbored against one of Nauta's attorneys.
Special counsel Jack Smith's team has denied all the claims, and Cannon in her four-page order Saturday said Nauta had not met the high bar required to get the case dismissed.
Nauta and another co-defendant, Mar-a-Lago property manager, Carlos De Oliveira, are accused of conspiring with Trump to conceal evidence from investigators as they sought to recover classified documents that were taken to the Palm Beach, Florida property after Trump's presidency ended.
All three men have pleaded not guilty.
No trial date has been set in the case. Trump has also sought to dismiss the case, and Cannon pointedly noted at the conclusion of her order: “This Order shall not be construed as commenting on the merits of Defendant Trump’s Motion to Dismiss the Indictment Based on Selective and Vindictive Prosecution or on any other motion pending before the Court.”
In this image from video provided by the U.S. Senate, Aileen M. Cannon speaks remotely during a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight nomination hearing on July 29, 2020, in Washington. Cannon, the federal judge presiding over the classified documents prosecution of Donald Trump, is hearing arguments Monday, June 24, 2024, on whether to bar the former president from public comments that prosecutors say could endanger the lives of FBI agents working on the case. (U.S. Senate via AP)
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump plans to return Saturday to the site where a gunman tried to assassinate him in July, setting aside what are now near-constant worries for his physical safety in order to fulfill a promise — “really an obligation,” he said recently — to the people of Butler, Pennsylvania.
“I'll probably start off by saying, ‘As I was saying ...’” the Republican presidential nominee has joked, in a bit of black humor about a speech cut short when a bullet struck Trump's ear and he was whisked off stage — fist aloft — with blood dripping across his face.
Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, also will be on hand at the Butler Farm Show grounds, as will billionaire Elon Musk, as the campaign elevates the headline-generating potential of his return with just 30 days to go in their tight campaign against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The campaign is predicting tens of thousands of people will attend what is being pitched as a "tribute to the American spirit.” Local hotels, motels and inns are reportedly full and some eager rallygoers were already arriving Friday, according to a local Facebook page.
“President Trump looks forward to returning to Butler, Pennsylvania to honor the victims from that tragic day," said Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. "The willingness of Pennsylvanians to join President Trump in his return to Butler represents the strength and resiliency of the American people.”
Trump will use the 5 p.m. Eastern time event to remember Corey Comperatore, a volunteer firefighter struck and killed at the July 13 rally, and to recognize the two other rallygoers injured, David Dutch and James Copenhaver. They and Trump were struck when 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, opened fire from an unsecured rooftop nearby before he was fatally shot by sharpshooters.
How Crooks managed to outmaneuver law enforcement that day and scramble on top of a building within easy shooting distance of the ex-president is among myriad questions that remain unanswered about the worst Secret Service security failure in decades. Another is his motive, which has never been determined.
Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger told WPXI-TV this week that “everyone is doubling down on their efforts to make sure this is done safely and correctly.”
Mike Slupe, the county sheriff, told the station he estimates the Secret Service — which has undergone a painful reckoning over its handling of two attempts on Trump’s life — is deploying ”quadruple the assets” it did in July.
Butler County, on the western edge of a coveted presidential swing state, is a Trump stronghold. He won the county — where turnout hovers around an impressive 80% — with about 66% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. About 57% of Butler County’s 139,000 registered voters are Republicans, compared with about 29% who are Democrats and 14% something else.
Three months later, townspeople are divided over the value of his return. Heidi Priest, a Butler resident who started a Facebook group supporting Harris, said Trump's last visit fanned political tensions in the city.
“Whenever you see people supporting him and getting excited about him being here, it scares the people who don’t want to see him reelected,” she said.
But Trump needs to drive up voter turnout in conservative strongholds like Butler County, an overwhelmingly white, rural-suburban community, if he wants to win Pennsylvania in November. Harris, too, has targeted her campaign efforts at Pennsylvania, rallying there repeatedly as part of her aggressive outreach in critical swing states.
The campaign rally site is seen near sunrise before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at the Butler Farm Show, the site where a gunman tried to assassinate him in July, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Jacob Tampa does pushups to try and warm up as people arrive and wait in line before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at the Butler Farm Show, the site where a gunman tried to assassinate him in July, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Dan Beasley of Northville, Mich., prays with Sue Hensal of Akron, Ohio, before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, the site where a gunman tried to assassinate him in July, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A memorial for firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died as he shielded family members from gunfire, is seen in the bleachers before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at the Butler Farm Show, the site where a gunman tried to assassinate him in July, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The campaign rally site is seen near sunrise before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at the Butler Farm Show, the site where a gunman tried to assassinate him in July, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Bleachers are set up ahead of a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Butler Farm Show, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Bleachers are set up ahead of a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Butler Farm Show, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A statue of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump is set up on a truck ahead of a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump reacts following an assassination attempt at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
A statue of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump is set up on a truck ahead of a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
