Things have gotten a whole lot worse for Donald Trump this week in the sprawling and infamous stolen Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, as a bombshell witness, who also happens to be an employee of the former president’s Florida compound, came forward and told prosecutors about his role in Trump’s scheme to hide those documents from investigators — a development that CNN legal expert and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig said is “gold for prosecutors.”
This week, the bombshell new documents witness was revealed to be Brian Butler, an employee of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf resort and post-White House personal residence. On Monday, Butler personally spoke with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, following his interview with investigators with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office, and opened up about how he personally helped load boxes onto the former president’s plane with the help of Donald’s bodyman and co-defendant Walt Nauta, many of which were loaded down with classified stolen government materials.
Following this development, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Honig, “How important is this news? And was there any significance in what you heard him say just then?”
“This type of witness is gold for prosecutors, and there’s a few reasons for that,” Honig said, without a doubt. “First of all, this person has insider access … he’s there when boxes are being loaded onto the plane.”
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Honig went on to explain that Butler served as the resolution for a key issue prosecutors were facing in this case: the when, where, why, how, and by whom these stolen, highly classified documents were moved.
The former federal prosecutor goes on to point out that Butler serves as an especially useful witness for Smith, as he appears to be almost completely unbiased.
“He doesn’t seem to have any reason to have an ax to grind with Donald Trump… he’s a longtime, two-decades-long employee of Donald Trump and the Trump Organization,” Honig explained. “He does not appear to be angry or resentful towards Donald Trump.”
As they wrapped up their discussion on the matter, Honig finally cited the mountain of evidence that corroborated Butler’s claims.
“He appears to be well-corroborated by documents by certain text chains that are referenced in the indictment and by testimony of some of the defendants themselves, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira,” said Honig. “So this is really the kind of witness that you want to build around as a prosecutor.”
Tapper questioned the proverbial worth of Butler’s bombshell testimony, specifically when it comes to the handling of the boxes that sit at the epicenter of the case against former President Donald Trump.
“He was not told that they were valuable, had important state secrets in them, and he just treated them like anything else,” Tapper said. “And they were stored in common areas and not stored with any potential security.”
Honig agreed with Tapper, but added that this was only a mere portion of the value surrounding what Butler could ultimately testify to.
“I think it’s also very damning in particular to Walt Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira, who are both defendants in this case, because they’re directing him what to do with the boxes,” the former prosecutor explained before adding this pointed reminder: “Trump and the other defendants were trying to figure out ‘What do we have on the surveillance video? Can we delete it?’ He overhears and he’s part of conversations about that as well. He’s a multifaceted witness for prosecutors.”
You can watch the CNN discussion here:
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
