Trump tape shows he discussed keeping classified Pentagon document: reports – National | 24CA News
Justice Department prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of former President Donald Trump from after he left workplace wherein he talks about holding onto a categorised Pentagon doc associated to a possible assault on Iran, in line with media stories.
CNN, which first reported on the tape, mentioned Trump recommended on the recording that he wished to share info from the doc with others however that he knew there have been limitations about his skill to declassify data after he left workplace.
The feedback on the recording, made in July 2021 at his golf membership in Bedminster, New Jersey, would appear to undercut the previous president’s repeated claims that he declassified the paperwork he took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida property, after leaving workplace. The recording may be a key assist for prosecutors seeking to show Trump knew his skill to own categorised paperwork was restricted.
The recording has been supplied to particular counsel Jack Smith, whose crew of prosecutors have spent months investigating the potential mishandling of categorised paperwork at Mar-a-Lago and whether or not Trump or anybody else sought to criminally hinder the probe. The investigation exhibits indicators of being in its last phases, with prosecutors having interviewed a broad cross-section of witnesses earlier than the grand jury.
No one has been criminally charged.
The legal investigation started final yr after the National Archives and Records Administration alerted the FBI to the presence of categorised paperwork in 15 bins of data despatched again, belatedly, from Mar-a-Lago by Trump and his representatives. Investigators initially issued a subpoena for remaining categorised data, however after they obtained solely about three dozen throughout a June 2022 go to to Mar-a-Lago, returned with a search warrant two months later and recovered about 100 extra paperwork marked as categorised.
Smith, the particular counsel, can be investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to undo the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election _ the topic of an analogous, ongoing inquiry by prosecutors in Atlanta. New York prosecutors charged Trump earlier this yr with falsifying business data.
According to the CNN report, the recording was made throughout a gathering at Bedminster with aides to Trump and two individuals who had been engaged on the autobiography of Trump’s former chief of workers, Mark Meadows.
It mentioned Meadows’ autobiography features a description of what seems to be the identical assembly. A lawyer for Meadows declined to remark Wednesday when reached by The Associated Press.
CNN mentioned witnesses together with Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been questioned concerning the episode. A spokesman for Milley declined to touch upon stories that he had been interviewed.
A spokesman for the particular counsel declined to remark.
A Trump spokesman mentioned in a press release that the investigation was “meritless” and amounted to “continued interference in the presidential election.”
© 2023 The Canadian Press
