Prosecutors Told Flip-Flopping Mar-A-Lago Employee He Wouldn’t Face Perjury Charges

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team told Mar-a-Lago information technology worker Yuscil Taveras that he would not face perjury charges after amending his testimony with information implicating former President Donald Trump, CBS News reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Taveras, referenced in court documents as a “Trump Employee 4,” recanted prior testimony where said he did not recall conversations about deleting security footage after switching from a lawyer backed by former President Donald Trump’s political action committee to a federal defender, prosecutors said in a Tuesday court filing. Smith’s team recently assured Taveras that he would not be charged and that he was no longer the target of a criminal probe, CBS reported.

The government advised Taveras in a June 20 letter that he was “the target of a grand jury investigation in the District of Columbia into whether he committed perjury there,” according to the Tuesday court filing. After informing District of Columbia Chief Judge James Boasberg he no longer wanted to be represented by the Trump-backed lawyer July 5, Taveras “retracted his prior false testimony and provided information that implicated” co-defendant Walt Nauta, Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira and Trump.

Trump was indicted by a grand jury on June 8 for his alleged mishandling of classified documents. Smith added De Oliveira as a third defendant in a superseding indictment on July 27, which also included new charges against Trump alleging he sought to delete security camera footage.

Tuesday’s filing was made in support of prosecutors’ earlier motion to hold a hearing on potential conflicts of interest surrounding Stanley Woodward, who previously represented Taveras and still represents Nauta.

“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  footage,” the filing stated. “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.”