27-06-23, 08:05
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re: TRUMP Attacks Judge,Wife & Daughter After WARNING Holding Mar-a-Lago Docs Was a Crime
TRUMP Heard on CNN Tape Discussing Military Secrets at Golf Club
Ex-president is heard discussing a Pentagon paper detailing plans to attack Iran with people who did not have security clearances
BBC NEWS 27 JUNE 2023
An audio recording in which Donald Trump acknowledges keeping a classified document after leaving the White House has been obtained by US media.
In the recording, the former president is heard riffling through papers and saying: "This is highly confidential".
Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of mishandling sensitive files.
CNN was the first to publish the roughly two-minute clip, and said it comes from a July 2021 interview that Mr Trump gave with people working on the memoir of his former chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Mr Trump is heard saying "these are the papers" and referring to a document he calls "highly confidential".
It appears to be an audio recording referenced by federal prosecutors in their indictment of the former president.
Charges Say Trump Took US Nuclear Secrets
Prosecutors allege he showed classified documents to people without security clearance on two occasions, including a writer and two members of staff, in one instance in July 2021 at his golf club in New Jersey.
Mr Trump is facing 37 counts of illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing the government's efforts to get them back.
He has denied any wrongdoing and has said that all documents he took with him from the White House were declassified.
During the exchange, released by CNN and the Washington Post on Monday, Mr Trump is heard describing a document that he alleges is about possibly attacking Iran.
"He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn't it amazing?" Mr Trump says near the beginning of the clip.
"I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look," he says.
"See as president I could have declassified it," he says. "Now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret."
In an interview last week with Fox News, Mr Trump denied that he provided secret documents to people unauthorised to view them.
"There was no document. That was a massive amount of papers and everything else talking about Iran and other things," Mr Trump said.
MORE;
Donald Trump Recorded Saying He Kept Classified File After Leaving Office
The recording, obtained by CNN, includes new details from a conversation that is a critical piece of evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Trump over the mishandling of classified information. It includes a moment when Trump seems to indicate he was holding a secret Pentagon document with plans to attack Iran.
The episode is one of two referenced in the indictment where prosecutors allege that Trump showed classified information to others who did not have security clearances, CNN reported.
In the conversation, Trump is talking with people helping his former chief of staff Mark Meadows write a book. His aide, Margo Martin, regularly taped conversations with authors to ensure they accurately recounted his remarks.
According to the recording aired on CNN, Trump refers to the document and its classified status.
“These are the papers,” Trump says in the audio recording, while he’s discussing the Pentagon attack plans, a quote that was not included in the indictment.
“This was done by the military and given to me,” Trump continues, before noting that the document remained classified. “See as president I could have declassified it,” he says. “Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.” Prompting laughter in the room.
Prosecutors obtain Trump tape about classified document he kept
‘Very dangerous’: Retired general reacts to recording of Trump discussing classified documents
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