Walt Nauta, aide to former president Donald Trump, disembarks Trump’s airplane, known as Trump Force One, in Bedminster, New Jersey, following a court appearance at Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Miami, June 13, 2023.
Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Donald Trump aide Walt Nauta has been unable to find a local Florida lawyer to represent him in the criminal case against him and the former president over the retention of classified government documents.
Nauta’s arraignment Tuesday in Miami federal court was postponed until July 6 to give him more time to hire a local attorney to represent him, as required by court rules for such a proceeding.
Nauta did not appear in court for Tuesday’s truncated hearing because his flight from New Jersey was canceled, his out-of-state lawyer Stan Woodward told Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres, according to a court filing.
Woodward, whose legal practice is based in Washington, D.C., declined to comment when asked by CNBC why his client has not yet hired a Florida attorney.
Nauta’s inability to hire a Florida lawyer echoes Trump’s own initial difficulty finding attorneys to represent him in the case after both men were indicted earlier this month on charges related to retaining classified documents at Trump’s residence in Palm Beach and allegedly hiding them from federal officials.
Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, pleaded not guilty at his own arraignment earlier this month.