Donald Trump’s valet pleaded not guilty to new charges on Thursday in the case that accused the ex-president of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, while the property manager’s indictment was postponed because he was still still failed to secure Florida. based attorney.

Trump waived his right to appear alongside valet Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos De Oliveira at the hearing in federal court in Fort Pierce, and the judge accepted a not guilty plea he made in court documents last week.

De Oliveira’s failure to complete local counsel marks the latest delay in the case, which is expected to go to trial in May, a date when Trump’s lawyers made it clear they wanted to push back. The judge set a new settlement date for De Oliveira on Tuesday.

Attorneys for Trump, De Oliveira and Nauta left the courthouse without commenting to reporters about the case.

An updated indictment filed late last month by Special Counsel Jack Smith accuses Nauta and De Oliveira of collaborating with the former Republican president to try to remove Mar-a-Lago surveillance video sought by investigators. Charges include conspiracy to obstruct justice in the case stemming from classified government documents found at the Palm Beach club after Trump left the White House in 2021.

Nauta and Trump were indicted in June and previously pleaded not guilty, but a new indictment added more charges and De Oliveira to the case.

De Oliveira first appeared in court in July but did not enter a plea because he had not engaged local counsel. A Florida attorney appeared in court with De Oliveira on Thursday but was not held in custody in the case.

Trump had already been charged with dozens of felonies, and the indictment added new counts of obstruction and willful withholding of national defense information.

It is one of three different criminal cases facing Trump this year as he attempts to reclaim the White House in 2024. He is also gearing up for a possible fourth indictment, in a case from Fulton County, Georgia, alleging efforts by him and his Republican allies to illegally interfere in that state’s 2020 election. District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat, has indicated that any charges in the case are likely to come this month.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has characterized all cases against him as politically motivated.

He pleaded not guilty in Washington federal court last week in a second case brought by Smith that charged him with conspiring with allies to reverse his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Smith’s team is expected to propose a trial date for that case on Thursday. Trump is already scheduled to go on trial in March in a New York state case stemming from hush money payments during the 2016 election and in May in the classified documents case.

The updated indictment in the documents case revolves around surveillance

video footage

at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump would have asked for the

footage video

to be removed after investigators from the FBI and Justice Department visited in June 2022 to collect classified documents he took with him after he left the White House.

The Mar-a-Lago video would ultimately become vital to the government case, as prosecutors say it shows Nauta moving boxes in and out of a storage unit, an act allegedly committed at Trump’s direction and in an attempt to to hide documents not only from detectives but also from Trump’s own lawyers.

Days after the Justice Department issued a subpoena for video

film material

at Mar-a-Lago to the Trump Organization in June 2022, prosecutors say, De Oliveira asked an IT worker how long the server held

footage video

and told the employee that the boss wanted it removed. When the employee said he didn’t believe he was capable of doing this, De Oliveira insisted that the boss wanted it and asked, What are we going to do?

Prosecutors allege that De Oliveira later lied in interviews with investigators, falsely claiming he hadn’t even seen boxes move into Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House.

De Oliveira’s attorney in Washington, John Irving, told reporters after the final hearing that he is looking forward to the potential evidence the Justice Department has, and declined to comment on whether De Oliveira has been asked to testify against Trump .

The new indictment also accuses Trump of illegally holding a document he allegedly showed visitors in New Jersey.