Trump Employee 4 who is a key witness in the classified documents case recanted his previous false testimony after Trump’s effort to destroy video surveillance footage after he dumped a Trump paid for attorney and got a new lawyer.
According to page 4 of the filing:
District Court for District of Columbia (Boasberg, C.J.), who presides over grand jury matters in that district. The Government notified this Court on the same day, by sealed notice, of the filing in the District of Columbia. See ECF Nos. 45, 46. Mr. Woodward raised no objection to proceeding in the District of Columbia regarding Trump Employee 4. In fact, he responded that he “welcome[d] the Court’s inquiry into [his] representation of” Trump Employee 4, Response at 1, In re Grand Jury Subpoena, No. 23-GJ-46 (D.D.C. June 30, 2023), but asserted that he had no “information to support the Government’s claim that [Trump Employee 4] has provided false testimony to the grand jury,” and that “even if [Trump Employee 4] did provide conflicting information to the grand jury such that could expose him to criminal charges, he has other recourse besides reaching a plea bargain with the Government. Namely, he can go to trial with the presumption of innocence and fight the charges as against him.” Id. at 3. According to Mr. Woodward, if Trump Employee 4 “wishes to become a cooperating Government witness, he has already been advised that he may do so at any time.” Id.
Chief Judge Boasberg made available independent counsel (the First Assistant in the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the District of Columbia) to provide advice to Trump Employee 4 regarding potential conflicts. 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. 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, as set forth in the superseding indictment.
The Government anticipates calling Trump Employee 4 as a trial witness and expects that he will testify to conduct alleged in the superseding indictment regarding efforts to delete security Case 9:23-cr-80101-AMC Document 129 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/22/2023 footage. Trump Employee 4 will very likely face cross-examination about his prior inconsistent statements in his grand jury testimony, which occurred while Mr. Woodward represented him, and which he disavowed immediately after obtaining new counsel.
Trump doesn’t pay for lawyers for his employees and other witnesses that get caught up in his schemes out of the goodness of his heart. He pays for lawyers to control the testimony of witnesses. Anyone who accepts a lawyer from Trump needs to understand that the lawyer is working for Donald Trump.
Employee # 4 is the Cassidy Hutchinson situation all over again. After Hutchinson dumped her Trump lawyer, she had a different story to tell to the 1/6 Committee.
Trump uses lawyers to tamper with witnesses.
The fact that the IT employee changed his testimony when he got a new lawyer implicates Trump in witness tampering and obstruction of justice.