Help keep Salon independent

Trump valet Walt Nauta was promised a presidential pardon if he lied to the FBI, witness claims

The former president's aide was reportedly promised a get-out-of-jail free card if Trump returns to the White House

News Fellow

Published

Former President Donald Trump and his aid Walt Nauta (right) arrive at an airport after Trump spoke at the Georgia Republican Party's state convention on Saturday, June 10, 2023 in Columbus, GA. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump and his aid Walt Nauta (right) arrive at an airport after Trump spoke at the Georgia Republican Party's state convention on Saturday, June 10, 2023 in Columbus, GA. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Unsealed court filings in the federal classified documents investigation show that former President Donald Trump’s valet and personal aide Walter Nauta was promised he’d be pardoned for lying to the FBI if Trump won the 2024 election.

Included in the filings, released Monday, are redacted interview notes with an FBI witness, identified only as “Person 16." The witness, who was interviewed in November 2022, is described as someone who worked in the Trump White House, CNN reported

“NAUTA was also told that even if he gets charged with lying to the FBI, FPOTUS will pardon him in 2024,” reads the summary.

In June 2023, Nauta was charged with lying to the FBI and obstructing the investigation by special counsel Jack Smith. Trump himself was also charged with obstruction, along with mishandling classified national defense information. Both Nauta and Trump have pleaded not guilty. 

The FBI interview summary does not detail how the witness, who refused to be recorded, came to know about the alleged offer to pardon Nauta. It indicates that the witness hasn’t spoken to Nauta since Trump was elected in 2016. 

But, following the end of Trump’s term in 2020, the witness visited the former president’s Mar-a-Lago numerous times, according to the summary. During one such visit, in November 2021, the witness purportedly advised Trump to give up “whatever” he had back to the National Archives. 

“Don’t give them a noble reason to indict you, because they will,” the witness said to Trump, according to their account.

In August 2022, the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago to recover classified material in August 2022.

 

By Nandika Chatterjee

Nandika Chatterjee is a News Fellow at Salon. In 2022 she moved to New York after graduating from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where she pursued a B.A. in Communication and a B.S. in Psychology. She is currently an M.A. in Journalism candidate at NYU, pursuing the Magazine and Digital Storytelling program, and was previously an Editorial Fellow at Adweek.


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Related Articles