Many said it was only a matter of time before someone in former President Donald Trump's orbit of indictments would "flip" on him and work with prosecutors, and it appears that it has now happened.
According to Politico, one of Trump's former Mar-a-Lago employees who was in charge of monitoring cameras, identified as Yuscil Taveras, has agreed to work with Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecutors in the indictment regarding Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents.
The news came after it was revealed that Taveras "abruptly retracted" his earlier grand jury testimony, and decided to work with federal prosecutors after he switched from a Trump PAC-funded lawyer to the Washington-based federal defender's office.
The bombshell revelation came in recent court filings.
Taveras, described as "Trump Employee 4" in the indictment, said originally in his grand jury testimony that he was unaware of any attempts to delete video footage at Trump's Florida estate, but later retracted his statements.
Hide the Ketchup in Mar-a-Lago!
Mar-a-Lago IT worker Yuscil Taveras has struck a cooperation agreement with the special counsel’s office in the classified documents cas, CNN reports. pic.twitter.com/IDJASKOCFG
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 6, 2023
In his latest submission, the former Trump employee "detailed the alleged effort to tamper with evidence related to the investigation of the handling of classified information stored at Trump’s Florida home."
For his part, Trump has denied that any such activities took place.
Politico added:
Special counsel Jack Smith’s team revealed the details of the employee’s about-face as part of a filing demanded by Florida-based U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the classified records case against the former president.
Taveras' updated testimony is what ultimately led to superseding charges in the classified documents case.
News of Taveras now working with Smith's prosecutors generated controversy, as the circumstances leading up to the sudden change of heart raised questions for many.
🚨🚨MAJOR BREAKING: Yuscil Taveras, the IT guy at Mar-a-Lago, has FLIPPED on Trump in the classified documents investigation and will corroborate the deletion of security footage to hide the smoking gun of top secret documents illegally handled.
Special Counsel Jack Smith… pic.twitter.com/aXgNOdghCx
— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) September 6, 2023
"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," prosecutors wrote.
"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."
