Photo:Chip Somodevilla/Getty, Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo
Chip Somodevilla/Getty, Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo
Conservative lawyerGeorge Conwayis offering his legal advice to a recently indicted co-defendant in the federal classified documents case againstDonald Trump.
Conwayappeared on CNNon Monday to talk about the expanded indictment of the former president and two of his employees. During the interview, Conway addressed the newest co-defendant, Mar-a-Lago property managerCarlos de Oliveira, who was charged on Thursday for allegedly participating in a plot to destroy evidence of concealing classified documents, then lying about it to investigators.
Sharing what he would advise de Oliveira if given the chance, Conway said, “I’d tell him to plead guilty and cooperate with the government. I think the case looks very strong against him.”
Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira, who has been indicted in the Justice Department’s classified documents case against Donald Trump.Joe Raedle/Getty
Joe Raedle/Getty
De Oliveira has been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice; altering, destroying, mutilating or concealing an object; corruptly altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing a document, record or other object; and false statements and representations. He is expected to enter a plea in federal court on Aug. 10.
Addressing the allegations against the property manager, Conway told CNN’sWolf Blitzer, “The fact that he was talking to somebody who then refused to assist him in destruction of the videos, erasing the server, deleting the server, as ‘the boss’ had asked for, is very, very damning testimony."
Conway added that de Oliveira should have listened to the employee who said they could not delete the footage instead of allegedly continuing to help Trump conceal the documents.
“At this point, he ought to cooperate,” he recommended. “The problem he has is, there’s so much evidence against Donald Trump.”
The lawyer went on to say that although he has never been a prosecutor, he imagines that it would be helpful in convicting Trump to have de Oliveira “on the stand” to confirm that the former president requested the footage be destroyed after receiving the initial subpoena.
Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Trump had been accused of 32 counts of willful retention of national defense information (a violation of the Espionage Act); one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice; one count of withholding a document or record; one count of corruptly concealing a document or record; one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation; one count of scheme to conceal; and one count of false statements and representations. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
On Thursday, the former president was also charged with one additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts.
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Trump’s federal criminal trial has been scheduled for late-May 2024 —right at the tail end of the GOP’s presidential primary season.
The trial datehad initially been set for Aug. 14, 2023, which likely would have seen court proceedings wrap before primary voting begins. But attorneys on both sides sought to delay it, with special counsel Jack Smith seeking a December 2023 trial and Trump seeking a trial after the 2024 presidential election.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump prepares to formally accept his party’s nomination on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.John Moore/Getty Images
Each ofthe charges against the former presidentcarries potential prison sentences, with the obstruction charges carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years per count. Violating the Espionage Act carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years, and both the conspiracy and false statements charges carry sentences of up to five years per offense.
source: people.com
