Washington [US], August 23: A key witness against former US President Donald Trump and two of his accomplices (in the case he kept secret documents after leaving office) has withdrawn his previous false testimony.
Yuscil Taveras, director of information technology at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, changed his testimony in July regarding an attempt to remove security camera footage at Mar-a. -Lago after he changed an attorney paid by Trump's Save America PAC to a public attorney, according to NBC News, citing court records dated August 22 (US time).
According to court documents, Mr. Taveras decided to change attorneys after learning he was being investigated for making false statements during a previous grand jury testimony in Washington DC New records filed by the office of special counsel Jack Smith.
"Shortly after receiving the new attorney, "Trump Staff 4" retracted its previous false testimony and provided information regarding (Waltine) Nauta, (Carlos) De Oliveira and Mr. delete security camera footage, as outlined in the superseding indictment," the filing reads. The dossier identifies Mr. Taveras as "Trump Staff 4". Characters Nauta and De Oliveira have been designated as two of Trump's accomplices in the secret document case.
Taveras' former attorney, Stanley Woodward, also represented Mr. Nauta and other figures associated with Mr. Trump. Mr. Woodward declined to comment on the revision of testimony on August 22 and did not have information on Mr. Trump's response.
Prosecutors outlined the change of testimony in a motion demanding a hearing into Mr. Woodward's possible inconsistencies.
Prosecutors say that during their investigation, they obtained "evidence that a Trump employee, Carlos De Oliveira, attempted to persuade Mar-a-Lago's chief information officer (identified in the alternative indictment as "Trump Employee 4") to remove security camera footage at Mar-a-Lago after a grand jury in the District of Columbia issued a subpoena for the footage".
"When "Trump Staff 4" testified before a grand jury in the District of Columbia in March 2023, he repeatedly denied or stated he did not recall any contact or conversation about the security footage. at Mar-a-Lago," the filing reads.
By the end of June, prosecutors had advised "Trump Staff 4" that he was the target of a grand jury investigation in the District of Columbia into whether he was guilty of perjury.
Taveras' revised testimony led to an alternative indictment last month against Trump and two of his co-conspirators in the classified documents case. In the alternate indictment, special counsel Jack Smith listed three new charges against Trump, bringing the total to 40, according to Reuters.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper