Donald Trump’s 44-page federal indictment depicts a varied cast of characters orbiting around the former president as he mishandles, flaunts and conceals top secret documents and reveals classified military information. The case involves numerous individuals, some named and others referred only by their titles, but all who allegedly played a role in Trump committing crimes related to the boxes of classified documents he took from the White House after leaving office.
The indictment, which was unsealed last week, sets up a criminal case that could lead to significant time in prison if Trump is convicted and further complicate his presidential campaign for the 2024 election. Along with the Trump world staffers mentioned in the indictment, it will also put attorneys on both sides of the case on the national stage.
Here’s a guide to the most important people involved:
Key names in the indictment
Donald Trump
Trump, along with his inner circle of aides and attorneys, is the central focus of the indictment. He faces 37 felony charges, ranging from the willful retention of national defense information to conspiracy to obstruct justice.
The former president is named constantly throughout the indictment, often referenced in his employees’ text messages or attorneys’ notes, but is also directly quoted talking about holding on to classified information. The indictment alleges that he flagrantly mishandled classified documents that had serious national security implications and could put at risk human sources as well as military safety. It also suggests that he did so in full awareness of his wrongdoing and conspired to conceal those crimes from authorities.
Trump, who recent polls show is the frontrunner to become the Republican party nominee for the 2024 presidential election, now faces two separate criminal indictments with more investigations ongoing.
Trump Attorney 1 AKA Evan Corcoran
Much of the indictment appears to be based on the notes and recordings of “Trump Attorney 1”, who the indictment does not name but reporters have identified as the attorney Evan Corcoran. Trump originally hired Corcoran in 2021 to defend him against federal indictment, leading to a unique situation where he may now become the star witness against the man he was tasked to protect. He is a former assistant US attorney who has worked in private practice for over two decades, but until now was not a publicly known figure.
Corcoran took extensive notes and iPhone recordings of his communications with Trump, which a judge forced Corcoran to turn over to prosecutors in an exception to the usual client-attorney privilege. (The “crime-fraud exception” to the rule states that communications that help perpetuate a crime are not protected.) Corcoran’s notes are featured throughout the indictment, including one exchange where he states Trump made a “plucking motion” when discussing the documents that potentially intimated Corcoran should pluck out and destroy classified information.
Corcoran, who hired his own lawyer in February as the documents case progressed, is not charged with any wrongdoing.
Waltine Nauta
One of the key figures in the case is Trump’s personal valet or “body man” who reported directly to the former president. A Navy veteran from Guam, Walt Nauta worked as a White House valet during the Trump administration and moved to Florida following the 2020 election to become Trump’s personal aide.
Prosecutors allege that Nauta was a point person for Trump whenever he wanted to access or hide the boxes of classified documents. The indictment states that Trump directed Nauta to transport various documents to Trump’s personal residence and that Nauta helped Trump try to conceal the boxes of top secret information from the FBI. Nauta also texted two Trump employees about the documents, in one case sending a photo of a tipped-over box and classified documents spilled out on the floor of a storage room.
Nauta faces several charges including conspiracy and making false statements, such as telling investigators that he didn’t know where the boxes of classified documents were being stored. He is the only person other than Trump charged in the case.
Supporting characters in the indictment
Trump employee 1 and Trump employee 2
Two unnamed Trump employees are also featured in the indictment, with texts between them describing moving the classified documents to different storage locations in Mar-a-Lago to make room for business meetings. Following the employees’ discussion, some of the documents were moved to a bathroom at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and the indictment features a photo of stacks of boxes sitting next to a toilet.
The staffer listed as “Trump Employee 2” also worked with Nauta to bring boxes from the storage room to Trump’s residence for his review, according to the indictment. Employee 2 and Nauta share various text exchanges about where the boxes are stored and reference Trump’s demands for information about them.
Political action committee representative
In either August or September 2021, prosecutors say Trump met with a representative from his political action committee at his Bedminster golf club property. Trump talked about how an ongoing military operation in what the indictment lists as “Country B” was going poorly, the indictment states, then proceeded to show the PAC representative a classified map of the country while simultaneously saying that he shouldn’t be showing it to them. The representative, who is not named, did not have security clearance to see information about the military operation.
Trump family member
In one exchange from the indictment, a member of Trump’s family texted valet Walt Nauta about the boxes of classified documents and Trump’s desire to relocate them. The family member is not named, although Nauta calls the person “Ma’am” in a text.
The writer, the publisher and the staffers
Trump gave an interview on 21 July 2021 to a writer and publisher for a then forthcoming book, according to the indictment. The unnamed writer and publisher, along with two of Trump’s staffers who are also not named, met in the former president’s office at Bedminster for a recorded interview. The book in question was reportedly former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows’s autobiography, although Meadows was not there himself.
During the interview, the indictment shows Trump brought up secret documents multiple times –– including showing those present a classified plan of attack against a foreign country, which is described in the indictment as “Country A”, that multiple outlets have reported was Iran. Neither the writer and publisher, nor Trump’s staffers, had security clearance to see the document.
The meeting also led to one of the more striking parts of the indictment, where Trump and one of the two staffers directly discuss the issue that he is holding onto a document that is still classified.
“See as president I could have declassified it,” Trump said of the document, according to the indictment.
“Yeah. [Laughter],” the staffer responds.
“Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret,” Trump said.
“Yeah. [Laughter] Now we have a problem,” the staffer said.
The legal side
Judge Aileen Cannon
The judge that will handle the case is Aileen Cannon, who is notable for being the Trump-appointed judge who last year ruled in his favor during Trump’s challenge to the Department of Justice investigation into his mishandling of classified information. Cannon’s decision in that case, which was later overturned by a conservative-leaning appeals court, was widely criticized for being unusually deferential to Trump and utilizing shaky legal reasoning.
Several legal experts have expressed concern about her overseeing the case, questioning her impartiality.
Todd Blanche
Trump’s lead counsel in the documents case will be Todd Blanche, a former federal prosecutor and white-collar criminal defense lawyer. Blanche, who previously represented other Trump world figures including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, resigned as partner from his law firm to represent Trump.
Blanche also represents Boris Epshteyn, one of Trump’s top advisers who reportedly recommended him for the role. Two of Trump’s lawyers resigned almost immediately following the release of the indictment, leading to Blanche becoming the attorney in charge of representing the former president.
Jack Smith
Special counsel Jack Smith is the head of the prosecution team in the case. A longtime justice department attorney, 54-year-old Smith took on the investigation into Trump’s handling of the documents last November after Merrick Garland, the attorney general, assigned him the case.
Smith previously was in charge of the justice department’s public integrity unit, which he oversaw between 2010 and 2015. He also served as chief prosecutor for a special court at the international criminal court in The Hague that investigated war crimes in Kosovo, and is known for an aggressive prosecutorial style.
“We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone,” Smith said after the charges were released.
