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Donald Trump’s valet charged in the classified documents case was forced to abandon his top choice Florida lawyer after the person hiked his fees, two people familiar with the matter said, leaving him unable to enter a plea and forcing a magistrate judge to delay his arraignment scheduled for Tuesday until early July.
The previously unreported dispute over fees in effect meant Nauta could not retain the person as his Florida lawyer, the people said, even though he would be paid by Trump’s political action committee Save America, which has also been paying the fees of his lead lawyer, Stanley Woodward.
The reason for the rate hike was not clear, but at least one Florida lawyer who had seriously considered representing Nauta decided several days ago that the reputational and legal risk of working with Trump’s co-defendant in the documents case presented major complications.
At the brief, 10-minute hearing, the chief magistrate judge for the court, Edwin Torres, rescheduled Nauta’s arraignment for 6 July, after Woodward said his client had been unable to find local counsel and that he was unable to attend in court because of flight cancellations.
In recognition of the fact that Nauta’s new arraignment could delay the criminal case, prosecutors asked the magistrate judge to set a new hearing date before 14 July, when all parties are due before US district court judge Aileen Cannon to set a timetable to start the discovery process.
The move by Torres to delay the arraignment for a second time was unusual, given magistrate judges have the authority to assign a federal public defender or a standby counsel to represent defendants on a one-off basis so that they can enter a plea.
www.theguardian.com
The previously unreported dispute over fees in effect meant Nauta could not retain the person as his Florida lawyer, the people said, even though he would be paid by Trump’s political action committee Save America, which has also been paying the fees of his lead lawyer, Stanley Woodward.
The reason for the rate hike was not clear, but at least one Florida lawyer who had seriously considered representing Nauta decided several days ago that the reputational and legal risk of working with Trump’s co-defendant in the documents case presented major complications.
At the brief, 10-minute hearing, the chief magistrate judge for the court, Edwin Torres, rescheduled Nauta’s arraignment for 6 July, after Woodward said his client had been unable to find local counsel and that he was unable to attend in court because of flight cancellations.
In recognition of the fact that Nauta’s new arraignment could delay the criminal case, prosecutors asked the magistrate judge to set a new hearing date before 14 July, when all parties are due before US district court judge Aileen Cannon to set a timetable to start the discovery process.
The move by Torres to delay the arraignment for a second time was unusual, given magistrate judges have the authority to assign a federal public defender or a standby counsel to represent defendants on a one-off basis so that they can enter a plea.
![www.theguardian.com](/forums/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.guim.co.uk%2Fimg%2Fmedia%2F8ee1768b95737b9ba0003859802be0cfead8b976%2F0_2_1479_888%2Fmaster%2F1479.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1200%26height%3D630%26quality%3D85%26auto%3Dformat%26fit%3Dcrop%26overlay-align%3Dbottom%252Cleft%26overlay-width%3D100p%26overlay-base64%3DL2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc%26enable%3Dupscale%26s%3D52a8c80872b435affafd38b24df3d0e9&hash=b3adc6182dcc7ba60bd0b1196c1b2d24&return_error=1)
Trump valet arraignment delayed after losing Florida lawyer over fees dispute
Exclusive: Walt Nauta remains without a Florida lawyer after the person abruptly hiked their fees just before the arraignment