DOJ asks to dismiss cases against Nauta and De Oliveira in classified documents case

The Department of Justice (DOJ) asked a federal court to dismiss its case against Donald Trump's co-defendants in the classified documents case, in which he is accused of withholding and hiding classified materials after leaving office in 2021.

Judge Aileen Cannon had dismissed the case last summer. The team of special prosecutor Jack Smith appealed. After winning the election, however, Trump was off the hook, according to Smith himself. The case against him was closed.

However, that did not stop the special prosecutor from moving forward against two of the president's employees, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.

Although the case against the president was shelved after his re-election, the DOJ maintained until this Wednesday the proceedings against two employees of the tycoon, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira. Smith's team filed an appeal to put Nauta, a Trump aide, and De Oliveira, a Mar-a-Lago administrator, back on the bench.

Cannon dismissed the case on the grounds that Smith's nomination by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland had been unconstitutional. The special prosecutor himself appealed, asserting that Cannon had misinterpreted the statutes. At stake in that appeal, therefore, was also the attorney general's power to appoint special prosecutors.

The prosecution accused Nauta of helping the Republican president hide boxes of documents found in his Florida residence and of lying to investigators. De Olivera was accused of helping the latter two by trying to erase recordings from security cameras. All three pleaded not guilty.

Next steps

It remains to be seen whether the appeals court will approve the DOJ's request to dismiss the indictments.

Another unresolved question is what will happen to Smith's report on the case. Before stepping aside, the prosecutor handed Garland several pages with evidence and conclusions from his two cases against Trump: the Jan. 6 case and the classified documents case.

Garland released the 174 pages relating to the altercations on Capitol Hill. The DOJ indicated at the time that it would not release the relevant sections of the classified documents because the cases against Nauta and De Oliveira were still pending.

Now in Trump's possession, the department hardly seeks to release this information. It could come to light, however: several media outlets and organizations claimed to have filed public information requests to get their hands on the documentation.