messier and messier

It sure sounds like these two Trump aides might flip on him after the whole Mar-a-Lago mess

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Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago mess keeps getting messier.

Federal investigators want to speak with two top Trump aides about the 100+ classified documents the FBI recovered from the ex-president’s home back in August. But they’ve raised the stakes by making it clear charges are on the table should the guys choose not to cooperate.

First, the DOJ want to talk to Walt Nauta, the former White House “Diet Coke valet”/Trump loyalist caught on CCTV footage moving several boxes of classified government documents at the ex-president’s Florida compound.

Related: Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mess just got 10 times messier and 20 times stupider

39-year-old Nauta was already interviewed by investigators twice before about the alleged mishandling of the records. Now, they want to speak with him a third time after finding some inconsistencies in his story.

Per The New York Times:

Investigators have interviewed Mr. Nauta at least twice and are skeptical that he was frank with them about his role in moving the boxes. The authorities did not show him the video footage during the interviews, according to two of the people familiar with the matter. But at one point he gave an answer that investigators found contradictory to one he had provided earlier.

Prosecutors have reportedly informed Nauta that they are considering filing charges against him, including unlawful retention of national defense information and obstruction of justice. If found guilty, he could spend decades in prison.

Related: The Mar-a-Lago mole strikes again and this time they might actually have a name

The other person the feds want to chat with is longtime Trump aide/children’s book author Kash Patel, whose self-published picture book The Plot Against the King is about the false claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.

Per The New York Times:

Shortly after the F.B.I. executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago in August to reclaim the classified documents, Mr. Patel publicly proclaimed that the former president had declassified the records before leaving office. But Mr. Patel refused to answer many questions this month before a grand jury in Washington hearing evidence about Mr. Trump’s handling of the documents, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to a person briefed on the matter.

In response, prosecutors asked a top federal judge in Washington to force Mr. Patel to testify–a move fought by Mr. Patel’s lawyers, who are concerned the government wants to use Mr. Patel’s own statements to incriminate him.

Per Axois, the DOJ prosecutor overseeing the whole thing is a man named Jay Bratt, who “has built his career going after convicted spies, Blackwater guards, Chinese companies and some of Trump’s close associates” and currently leads the Justice Department’s counterintelligence division.

Related: Melania’s ransacked closet at Mar-a-Lago is becoming almost as infamous as her murdered rose garden

Bratt is also chief of the Justice Department’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, which enforces laws surrounding export controls and sanctions, national security, cybersecurity and espionage.

In other words: He’s not somebody anyone wants to f*ck with. And if Nauta and Patel are smart–which, let’s be honest, the jury is still out on that–they’ll start cooperating and telling the truth.

Now, some tweets…

Related: Liz Cheney just let Trump know she’s not f*cking around, in case there was still any confusion

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