President Donald Trump's employees, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who are co-defendants in the classified documents case, are not expected to receive presidential pardons. Discussions are ongoing about potentially ending the prosecution without pardoning them, according to sources familiar with the case and the Trump administration's stance.
One possible course of action could involve dropping the Justice Department's appeal to revive the criminal case against Nauta and De Oliveira as early as Tuesday. This move would effectively conclude the prosecution without the need for pardons, as pardoning them might imply wrongdoing that needs forgiveness.
The classified documents case, which made headlines last summer, was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon due to concerns over the appointment of Jack Smith by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, which was deemed unconstitutional. However, the Biden Justice Department appealed the dismissal and supported the special counsel's authority to prosecute.
Following his reelection in November, Smith decided to drop the prosecution of Trump entirely. Despite this, the case against Nauta and De Oliveira, who were accused of aiding Trump in obstructing the federal investigation into alleged document mishandling, remained active.
Both Nauta and De Oliveira pleaded not guilty to the obstruction charges brought against them. The charges stemmed from Smith's investigation into Trump's handling of classified information during his first term in office.
Nauta was accused of assisting Trump in concealing boxes of classified documents from a Trump attorney who was gathering them for a grand jury subpoena. Additionally, Nauta was alleged to have provided false information to investigators looking into the whereabouts of the documents.
De Oliveira, on the other hand, was charged with collaborating with Trump and Nauta in obstructing the investigation by trying to delete security footage from the Mar-a-Lago estate that had been requested through a grand jury subpoena.
