The man who got thrown into the Trump indictment buffet was given an interview known as a “Queen for a Day” meeting where he could share his story without fear of prosecution, the Washington Post reports. Prosecutors, however, did not believe Carlos De Oliveira was being honest or completely open with them and told his lawyers to expect an indictment.
De Oliveira worked with fellow defendant Walt Nauta to move boxes of files after Donald Trump’s lawyers were advised of meetings at Mar-a-Lago with government lawyers in June 2022. He was also seen on security footage moving at least one box on June 3rd, 2022 that Trump ultimately took to Bedminster, New Jersey that day. From the day of the FBI raid to secure government documents in August 2022, investigators have felt De Oliveira had obfuscated when responding to direct questions; for example, when FBI agents asked for the key to the room where Trump stored boxes of documents, De Oliveira, the property manager, claimed he didn’t have it and said either unknown Secret Service agents or Trump campaign staff had it.
Prosecutors ended up charging De Oliveira after offering an opportunity to give an honest and complete account of his activities after he appeared before the grand jury in early April and then appeared for a proffer session weeks later. During those times, De Oliveira claimed not to remember key details–like two out-of-character trips Trump made to Mar-a-Lago in the heat of summer in July 2022–as well as specifics of if he was asked to perform certain tasks and by whom.