Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property manager appeared in court for the first time to face charges that he helped the ex-president hide classified documents.

Carlos De Oliveira, wearing a blue suit and tie, did not enter a plea at the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building in Miami on Monday afternoon, as he has not yet retained legal counsel.

De Oliveira is accused of scheming with Trump to attempt to delete surveillance footage that federal investigators requested in probing classified documents that Trump took from the White House to his Florida residence. De Oliveira has been charged with four counts, including obstruction of justice.

US Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres set De Olivera’s arraignment for August 10 and ordered him not to speak to other defendants in the case, which include Trump’s valet Walt Nauta.

De Oliveira during the 10-minute hearing was told his rights as a criminal defendant, and released on a $100,000 bond.

After the hearing, De Oliveira’s attorney said: ‘The Justice Department has unfortunately decided to bring these charges, and now it’s time for them to put their money where their mouth is.’

De Oliveira appeared in court four days after prosecutors released an updated indictment in the classified documents case, with new counts of obstruction and willful retention of national defense information. It named De Oliveira as a third defendant.

Prosecutors allege that De Oliveira lied to FBI agents when asked in a voluntary interview if he helped Nauta move boxes of classified documents around Mar-a-Lago.

The superseding indictment on Thursday claimed that De Oliveira in June 2022 took another Mar-a-Lago employee to an ‘audio closet’ and asked how many days of security footage the server was holding.

De Oliveira allegedly said ‘the boss’, presumably referring to Trump, wanted the server data deleted. When the worker said he did not think he could wipe the server, De Oliveira allegedly said the ‘boss’ wanted it done and asked, ‘What are we going to do?’

Both Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Trump on Monday addressed a second federal indictment he previously announced he expects from special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the classified documents probe.

Last week, Trump’s lawyers met with Smith’s prosecutors regarding an investigation into the January 6 Capitol riots and efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election.

‘I assume that an Indictment from Deranged Jack Smith and his highly partisan gang of Thugs, pertaining to my “PEACEFULLY & PATRIOTICALLY Speech, will be coming out any day now,’ wrote Trump on his Truth Social platform.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.