Who Is Walt Nauta? Aide Indicted With Trump In Mar-A-Lago Documents Case

Topline

Longtime Trump ally Walt Nauta has been indicted alongside the former president in a case involving the alleged mishandling of classified documents at Mar-A-Lago, according to several media reports and a post from Trump on Friday, after years of serving as a faithful personal aide in both inside the White House and at Trump’s personal residence.

Walt Nauta carries a tie and overcoat for former president Donald Trump.

The Washington Post via Getty Images

Key Facts

The second indictment was reported Friday after former President Donald Trump was charged with seven counts, including violating the Espionage Act and giving false statements about his handling of classified documents that he allegedly took to his private residence in Florida.

While Trump was in the office, Nauta served as a valet—a member of the military who operates as a close personal assistant, providing clothes, favorite snacks and whatever else might be needed.

Nauta was the only White House valet that followed Trump to his personal residence in Mar-A-Lago after he lost the 2020 election, according to the Washington Post—he left the military to work for a Trump political action committee in September 2021, making a salary of $135,000 a year, the Post reported.

Surveillance footage captured Nauta moving boxes out of a storage room at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago residence before and after the Justice Department issued a subpoena in May 2022 seeking the return of all classified documents being held in Florida.

The exact reason for Nauta’s indictment has not been made clear, and Forbes reached out to his attorney.

In a Truth Social post, Trump responded to Nauta’s indictment by calling him a “strong, brave…Patriot” and accusing the Department of Justice of “trying to destroy his life.”

Crucial Quote

Trump advisors spoke to the Washington Post about Nauta, describing his role on the team. “He is very sheepish and asks permission for everything,” one advisor told the Post. “He’s willing to do whatever.” Another advisor said he fulfilled “a need for someone who wasn’t too proud to get a new tie, pick up dry cleaning, follow [Trump] around the golf course, staff his dinners, do things that a lot of people just aren’t dying to spend their whole life doing.”

Key Background

Nauta, 40, is originally from Guam, the Washington Post reported. He enlisted in the Navy in 2001 and became a White House cook during the Obama Administration. Shortly after Trump took office, Nauta moved from his role as cook to a valet, where he started out bringing Diet Cokes to the president in the Oval Office, a former White House staffer told the Post. In September 2020, Nauta was promoted to senior chief petty officer. He often moved boxes full of documents and memos between offices, and in Mar-A-Lago once he became a personal aide after Trump’s presidency.

Surprising Fact

The DOJ interviewed Nauta multiple times about his involvement in moving boxes of documents for Trump, according to reports from the New York Times and Washington Post. Nauta answered questions for the DOJ but was not “formally cooperating” with the investigation, per the Times. Nauta reportedly denied any role in moving the boxes during an initial interview with the FBI, but said Trump instructed him to move them when he was questioned a second time, the Post reported, citing anonymous people familiar with the situation.

News Peg

Under the Presidential Records Act, presidential documents are considered federal property and must be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration after a president leaves office. NARA first began requesting missing documents from Trump in May 2021, and, upon receiving them in January 2022, found there were classified documents among those being stored at Trump’s personal residence in Florida. More recently, the probe pivoted to focus more on whether Trump attempted to remove or destroy some records during the investigation. Last month, the Justice Department subpoenaed at least five of Trump’s employees at Mar-A-Lago, the New York Times reported, in an attempt to figure out whether Trump tried to hide some documents from the DOJ.