Police
outside
of
Mar-a-Lago
in
West
Palm
Beach,
Florida,
on
Aug.
9,
2022,
the
day
after
the
FBI
searched
Donald
Trump’s
estate.
Joe
Cavaretta
|
South
Florida
Sun-sentinal
|
Tribune
News
Service
|
Getty
Images
A
key
witness
against
former
President Donald
Trump and
his
two
co-defendants
in
the
Mar-a-Lago documents
case recanted
previous
false
testimony
and
provided
new
information
implicating
the
defendants
after
switching
lawyers,
according
to
a
new
court
filing
by
special
counsel
Jack
Smith’s
office.
Yuscil
Taveras,
the
director
of
information
technology
at
Mar-a-Lago,
changed
his
testimony
in
July
regarding
efforts
to
delete
security
camera
footage
at
Trump’s
Florida
club
after
changing
from
a
lawyer
paid
for
by
Trump’s
Save
America
PAC
to
a
public
defender,
according
to
Tuesday’s
filing.
The
revised
testimony
led
to
last
month’s superseding
indictment against
Trump
and
his
two
co-defendants.
Taveras
decided
to
change
lawyers
after
learning
he
was
being
investigated
for
making
false
statements
during
his
previous
grand
jury
testimony
in
Washington,
D.C.,
the
court
filing
said.
“Immediately
after
receiving
new
counsel,
Trump
Employee
4
retracted
his
prior
false
testimony
and
provided
information
that
implicated
Nauta,
(Carlos)
De
Oliveira,
and
Trump
in
efforts
to
delete
security
camera
footage,
as
set
forth
in
the
superseding
indictment,”
the
filing
said.
The
filing
identifies Taveras
as
“Trump
Employee
4.”
NBC
News
previously reported
that
Taveras is
employee
No.
4.
Taveras’
now-former
lawyer
is
Stanley
Woodward.
Woodward
also
represents
Trump’s
co-defendant
Walt
Nauta
and
a
variety
of
other
Trump-world
figures.
Woodward
declined
comment
Tuesday
on
the
special
counsel’s
new
filing.
NBC
News
has
reached
out
to
Taveras
for
comment.
Prosecutors
outlined
the
change
in
testimony
in
a
motion
on
their
request
for
a
hearing
on
Woodward’s
possible
conflicts.
They
said
that
during
the
course
of
their
investigation,
they
obtained
“evidence
that
Trump
employee
Carlos
De
Oliveira
tried
to
enlist
the
director
of
information
technology
for
Mar-a-Lago
(identified
in
the
superseding
indictment
as
Trump
Employee
4)
to
delete
Mar-a-Lago
security
footage
after
the
grand
jury
in
the
District
of
Columbia
had
issued
a
subpoena
for
the
footage.”
“When
Trump
Employee
4
testified
before
the
grand
jury
in
the
District
of
Columbia
in
March
2023,
he
repeatedly
denied
or
claimed
not
to
recall
any
contacts
or
conversations
about
the
security
footage
at
Mar-a-Lago,”
the
filing
said.
By
late
June,
prosecutors
“advised
Trump
Employee
4
(through
Mr.
Woodward)
that
he
was
the
target
of
a
grand
jury
investigation
in
the
District
of
Columbia
into
whether
he
committed
perjury.”
The
target
letter
“crystallized
a
conflict
of
interest
arising
from
Mr.
Woodward’s
concurrent
representation
of
Trump
Employee
4
and
Nauta.
Advising
Trump
Employee
4
to
correct
his
sworn
testimony
would
result
in
testimony
incriminating
Mr.
Woodward’s
other
client,
Nauta;
but
permitting
Trump
Employee
4’s
false
testimony
to
stand
uncorrected
would
leave
Trump
Employee
4
exposed
to
criminal
charges
for
perjury,”
the
filing
said.
Prosecutors
asked
for
a
hearing
on
the
representation
issue
before
Chief
Judge
James
Boasberg,
who
oversaw
the
grand
jury
investigation.
The
judge
had
a
federal
defender
available
to
advise
Taveras
on
how
to
proceed.
“On
July
5,
2023,
Trump
Employee
4
informed
Chief
Judge
Boasberg
that
he
no
longer
wished
to
be
represented
by
Mr.
Woodward
and
that,
going
forward,
he
wished
to
be
represented
by
the
First
Assistant
Federal
Defender,”
the
filing
said.
“Immediately
after
receiving
new
counsel,
Trump
Employee
4
retracted
his
prior
false
testimony
and
provided
information
that
implicated
Nauta,
De
Oliveira,
and
Trump
in
efforts
to
delete
security
camera
footage.”
Shelli
Peterson
—
First
Assistant
Federal
Public
Defender
in
Washington,
D.C.,
who
is
referenced
in
the
special
counsel’s
filing
—
declined
comment
Tuesday
night.
Peterson,
who
has
represented
numerous
defendants
in
high-profile
cases,
initially
represented
another
Woodward
client:
former
Trump
State
Department
employee
Federico
Klein,
who
was convicted on
multiple
felony
counts
last
month
in
connection
with
the
Jan.
6
riot.
Woodward
one
day
was
late
for
a
hearing
in
the
Klein
case
because
he
was
representing
Trump
aide
William
Russell
during
his testimony before
the
grand
jury
that
indicted
Trump
in
the
election
interference
case.
Taveras
is
at
least
the
second
person
to
offer
new
testimony
after
switching
from
an
attorney
with
ties
to
Trump. Cassidy
Hutchinson,
a
former
aide
to
then-White
House
chief
of
staff
Mark
Meadows,
gave
investigators
from
the
House
Jan.
6
committee
more damaging
testimony about
Trump
and
Meadows’
conduct
in
the
leadup
to
the
Capitol
riot
after
parting
ways
with
her
first
Trump-allied
lawyer.
