‘Quelle surprise’: Trump criminal co-defendant pushes for court delay – just as legal experts predicted

Walt Nauta, Donald Trump's former Naval presidential valet turned Mar-a-Lago body man who was criminally indicted with the ex-president on multiple charges related to mishandling of classified documents, including obstruction and concealment, on Monday filed for a delay in the case, noting "Counsel for President Donald J. Trump does not oppose this request."

Nauta has already caused a delay in the judicial proceedings by first claiming the weather delayed his flight to Florida, causing his arraignment to be delayed – a claim rejected by at least one expert who charged that Nauta had "squandered the time he was given to find local counsel. Had he done that, the arraignment would have gone forward," even without him. His arraignment was again delayed because he still had not retained legal counsel in Florida.

And now he again is asking for a delay in a pretrial hearting scheduled for July 14, according to Lawfare's Anna Bower.

"Defendant Nauta was indicted on June 8, 2023, in this District, despite the fact that the investigation leading to his indictment had long been conducted by a Grand Jury empaneled in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia," the motion filed by Nauta's attorney reads.

"At all times relevant to this investigation, Defendant Nauta has been represented by an attorney licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia," the motion claims. "With little notice to Defendant Nauta, the operative indictment in this matter was returned in this District and only recently, on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, did Defendant Nauta retain local counsel, Sasha Dadan."

The DOJ, as Politico's Kyle Cheney reports, immediately responded, opposing the delay.

"Defendant Waltine Nauta has submitted to chambers a motion to continue the pretrial conference the Court has scheduled for July 14, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.," their motion reads. "He seeks the continuance because one of his attorneys, Stanley Woodward, will be in trial in the District of Columbia that week and unable to attend the hearing in person. Nauta does not indicate when Mr. Woodward would be available to appear at such a conference. Nor does he explain why his other counsel of record, Sasha Dadan, is not capable of handling the proceeding. An indefinite continuance is unnecessary, will inject additional delay in this case, and is contrary to the public interest. The government therefore opposes this motion."

MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin offers some colorful context, saying that "the Special Counsel's office is all but accusing Woodward of lying. He says he told them he opposed their motion to have this hearing; they say he explicitly told them he did *not* oppose it."

And, "beyond his beef with the Special Counsel, Woodward also is picking his first fight with Judge Cannon, insisting her order that local counsel be prepared to adequately represent the defendant finds no support in the local rules for the admission of out-of-district lawyers."

On the point that Trump's legal team does not oppose the delay, Rubin sardonically exclaims, "Quelle surprise."

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, an MSNBC/NBC News legal analyst, wonders if Nauta's lawyers are "serving their client's interests or Trump's? So far, Nauta's role has been to delay things."

Vance had predicted this delay, and others that may come, in her Substack newsletter Sunday night.

"Trump’s valet, and now co-defendant, Walt Nauta, finally got arraigned last Thursday after a three week delay, which of course, pushes back other items on the court’s calendar," she began.

She adds, "a proposal from Trump to delay until after the election...is inevitably coming."

Judge Aileen Cannon's "current order calls for in limine motions to be filed by July 24, 2023, with a calendar call to consider the motions set for August 8, 2023. The trial date is still set for August 14, 2023. Of course, none of that is happening," says Vance.

Discussing Nauta's attorney, Vance wrote, "Dadan’s appearance in court for Nauta raises questions, especially in light of reporting suggesting that one of Trump’s PACs is paying for Nauta’s legal representation. No matter who pays for a criminal defense lawyer, their obligation is to the client, but there are plenty of former U.S. Attorneys and Assistant United States attorneys in the Southern District of Florida, with lots of federal experience and a strong understanding of the ethical obligations invoked when a third party pays the cost of legal representation in a criminal case, who would presumably be delighted to give Mr. Nauta the representation he deserves."

"Instead, he has Ms. Dadan, who has great credentials for the work she does, but not necessarily for a case like this. Will Nauta’s team represent his interests if a point in time comes when they diverge from Trump’s, as they almost inevitably will in the course of the prosecution?"