The transcript of an FBI interview with Walt Nauta, an aide to former President Donald Trump, was made public, detailing his characterization of boxes of sensitive documents that are now the center of a special counsel’s case into the mishandling of classified documents from the Trump White House. Nauta faces obstruction-related charges in the case and has pleaded not guilty. The court documents reveal that agents outlined the stakes of their investigation to Nauta during the interview.
During the interview, Nauta described the layout of Mar-a-Lago, where he claimed boxes of Trump’s items from the White House were stored, and what he believed was in the boxes. He repeatedly claimed that he believed the boxes contained news clippings, hairspray, shampoo, picture frames, and other miscellaneous materials. Nauta has been charged with conspiring to conceal documents and lying to the FBI in his interview about the location and movement of the boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon granted Nauta permission to file a version of the transcript with minor redactions ahead of a hearing where he will argue that the charges against him should be thrown out. The transcript also includes investigators asking Nauta about Trump showing a document with classified markings to people while on a plane, to which Nauta denied knowledge of any such incident. CNN has reached out to representatives for Trump for comment on the matter.
FBI agents explained to Nauta, who served in the military, why they were interested in the whereabouts of any sensitive government documents. They stressed that even minor details could be helpful to their review and in determining if classified documents were kept in a controlled environment or exposed to a foreign intelligence service. The agents stated that compromising certain information would require informing intelligence agencies to potentially shut down certain operations to protect lives and prevent the exposure of sensitive capabilities.
Nauta denied telling Trump that he was sitting for the interview and instead told Trump he was going for a run. The full transcript of the interview is available for review. Nauta’s charges and involvement in the mishandling of classified documents from the Trump White House continue to be part of the ongoing investigation and legal proceedings.
