Trump aide Walt Nauta’s arraignment postponed to July 6

A judge rescheduled the arraignment of Walt Nauta, the aide indicted alongside former President Donald Trump, for July 6 after he failed to appear at a Miami courthouse.

Mr. Nauta missed the court date due to flight delays. He also continues to hit hurdles in securing a local attorney to represent him in the federal trial.

Mr. Nauta is Mr. Trump’s “body man” and faces six counts in the federal indictment from special counsel Jack Smith, including conspiracy to obstruct, withholding a document or record, and scheme to conceal.

Court watchers were stunned to see his out-of-town counsel, Stanley Woodward, show up at the Miami courthouse but not Mr. Nauta.

Mr. Nauta, who is still seeking Florida counsel to comport with local court rules, had been spending time at Mr. Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

On top of counsel issues, Mr. Woodward told a magistrate judge that Mr. Nauta was stuck at the airport in Newark, New Jersey, after inclement weather delayed many flights.

Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty to more than 30 counts earlier this month, but Mr. Nauta could not enter a plea until he landed a local attorney.

The indictment alleges Mr. Nauta played a role in moving boxes of sensitive documents around Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and misled investigators who asked him about the documents.

At one point, the FBI asked Mr. Nauta for information about how 15 boxes were stored or secured before Mr. Trump’s team turned them over to the National Archives.

“I wish, I wish I could tell you. I don’t know. I don’t — I honestly just don’t know,’” Mr. Nauta said, according to the indictment.

The indictment said the statements were false because Mr. Nauta and another employee had moved the boxes from a storage room to Pine Hall at the Florida estate, “and Nauta had observed the boxes in and moved them to various locations at The Mar-a-Lago Club.”

Prosecutors said Mr. Nauta eventually stopped talking to investigators.