Trump aide Walt Nauta indicted in classified documents case

An aide to former President Donald Trump has been indicted in special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the mishandling of classified documents from the Trump White House.

Walt Nauta's indictment is the second in the special counsel's investigation. Trump has been indicted on 37 counts, which include charges relating to the willful retention of national defense information, according to the indictment, which was unsealed on Friday.

Nauta faces six counts, including several obstruction- and concealment-related charges stemming from the alleged conduct.

Prosecutors allege that Nauta lied to investigators when he was interviewed by the FBI in May 2022, according to the indictment. He allegedly falsely said he was not aware of boxes being brought to Trump's residence for his review before Trump provided 15 boxes to the National Archives in 2022.

But Nauta himself had helped move boxes from the storage room to Trump's residence, according to the indictment.

"When asked whether he knew where Trump's boxes had been stored, before they were in Trump's residence and whether they had been in a secure or locked location, Nauta falsely responded, 'I wish, I wish I could tell you. I don't know. I don't - I honestly just don't know,'" the indictment states.

The indictment states that between November 2021 and January 2022, Nauta and another Trump employee brought boxes from the Mar-a-Lago storage room to Trump's residence at the former president's direction.