Until last week, Walt Nauta was a name few people outside Donald Trump's inner circle had ever heard. Nauta met Trump in the White House, where Nauta, an enlisted service member in the Navy at the time, worked as a military valet. He apparently bonded with Trump and kept working for the twice-impeached former president after voters sent him packing to Mar-a-Lago. Nauta is visible as an anonymous presence in many photos of Trump, straightening Trump's collar or handing Trump his phone in between holes on the golf course.
Now, of course, Nauta is famous as an indicted co-conspirator, the second defendant in the classified documents case unveiled by Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith on Friday. Trump was hit with 37 felony counts in the indictment, related to illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing efforts by the FBI to get them back. Nauta, who was often tasked with moving boxes around Mar-a-Lago at Trump's beck and call, faces six criminal charges for his role in the alleged conspiracy.
