‘Trump Employee 5’ Says Former President Should End 2024 Run
A longtime valet at Mar-a-Lago whose witness testimony helped investigators charge Donald Trump over his alleged efforts to illegally hoard and hide classified documents is speaking out for the first time about his involvement with the case, telling CNN on Monday that his former boss should quit his 2024 presidential campaign, and that he doesn’t believe the felony charges against Trump constitute “a witch hunt.”
Brian Butler, 41, worked for two decades as a club valet, chauffeur, and manager at Trump’s South Florida estate, and was at one point best friends with property manager Carlos De Oliveira. (De Oliveira and another Trump employee, Walt Nauta, both face criminal charges alongside the former president.)
Butler is repeatedly referenced as “Trump Employee 5” in a federal superseding indictment, which outlines his role in allegedly helping to obstruct and conceal Trump’s hoarded material. He told CNN that he had had “no clue” he was shifting national secrets.