CNN
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Federal prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of a meeting in the summer of 2021 in which former President Donald Trump acknowledged that he was in possession of a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran, several sources told CNN, downplaying his argument that he had said everything.
The recording indicated Trump understood he was keeping classified material after leaving the White House, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. On the record, Trump’s comments suggest he wants to share information but knows the limits of his post-presidency ability to declassify records, two of the sources said.
CNN did not listen to the recording, but several sources described it. One source said the relevant part of the Iran document was about two minutes long, and another source said the discussion was a small part of a longer meeting.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who led the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump, characterized the meeting as part of a criminal investigation into Trump’s handling of national security secrets. Sources described the recording as an “important” piece of evidence in a possible case against Trump, who has repeatedly said he can keep presidential records and “automatically” declassify them. document.
Prosecutors questioned witnesses about the recording and the document before a federal grand jury. The episode generated enough interest for investigators to question Gen. Mark Milley, one of the highest-ranking national security officials in the Trump era, about the incident.
The July 2021 meeting was held at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, with two people working on the autobiography of Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows as well as aides used by the former president, including a specialist in communication Margo Martin. The attendees, according to the sources, did not have security clearances that would allow them to access classified information. Meadows did not attend the meeting, the sources said.
Meadows’ autobiography includes an account of what appears to be the same meeting, in which Trump “recalled a four-page report typed by (Trump’s former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) Mark Milley It includes the general’s own plan to attack Iran, deploying more troops, something he has urged President Trump to do more than once during his presidency.
The document Trump was talking about was not created by Milley, CNN was told.
Investigators have questioned Milley about the episode in recent months, making him one of the highest-ranking national security officials from the Trump administration to meet with the special counsel’s team. Milley’s spokesman Dave Butler declined to comment to CNN.
The revelation that the former president and commander-in-chief was caught on tape discussing a classified document could heighten his legal exposure as he continues his third bid for the White House. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
A Trump campaign spokeswoman said the “leaks” were intended to “heat tensions” around Trump.
“The DOJ’s continued interference in the presidential election is disgraceful and this futile investigation must stop wasting American taxpayer money on Democratic political purposes,” the spokesperson added.
When asked at a CNN town hall this month if he had shown the classified documents he kept after the presidency to anyone, Trump replied: “Absolutely not. I have the right to. By the way, they are— declassify afterwards.”
An attorney for Meadows declined to comment. An attorney for Martin declined to comment.
Smith’s investigation shows signs of coming to an end, though it has yet to result in any criminal charges. A spokesman for the special counsel’s office declined to comment for this story.
Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images/File
In this February 2020 photo, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley chats with President Donald Trump after he delivered the State of the Union address at the Capitol in Washington, DC.
The recording now in the hands of prosecutors shows that they are not only looking at Trump’s actions regarding the classified documents obtained from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, but also what happened in Bedminster a year ago.
The meeting in which Trump discussed the Iran document with others took place shortly after The New Yorker published a story by Susan Glasser detailing how, in the final days of Trump’s presidency, Milley directed the Joint Chiefs to ensure that Trump has not issued an illegal order and that he has been informed of any concerns. The story angered Trump.
Glasser reported that in the months after the election, Milley repeatedly argued against attacking Iran and worried that Trump “could set in motion a whole conflict that is not justified.” Milley and others talked Trump into taking such drastic action, according to the New Yorker story.
On the record and in response to the story, Trump brought up the document, which he said was from Milley. Trump told those in the room that if he could show it to people, it would damage what Milley said, the sources said. A source said Trump was referring to the document that appeared to be in front of him.
Multiple sources said the recording captured the sound of paper being rubbed, as if Trump was waving the document around, though it was unclear if it was the actual Iranian document. There was also laughter in the room captured on the recording.
The US military has contingency plans and courses of action that apply to countries and situations around the world.
07:16 – Source: CNN
Honig: Trump prosecutors put themselves “in a calendar corner”
The meeting took place before Trump’s team sent 15 boxes of presidential records and classified documents back to the National Archives and Records Administration in January 2022 after months of back-and-forth between his team and the agency. record.
The Justice Department later obtained additional documents with classified markings from Trump, seizing more than 100 in a search of Mar-a-Lago in August. Trump’s legal team hired people to search other Trump properties, including Bedminster, last year.
Investigators from the special counsel’s office are also asking their document management and obstruction probe about other scenarios in which Trump showed national security documents, such as maps, to others, the sources said. . They also asked several witnesses to share details about Trump’s anger with Milley.
During the summer of 2021, sources said several people made recordings of Trump as he spoke to journalists and biographers.
Trump and his lawyers have offered several different, often conflicting, explanations for why Trump did not intentionally keep classified material in violation of federal law.
Initially, Trump’s allies argued that he had a “standing declassification order” so that the documents removed from the Oval Office were immediately declassified. A few weeks ago, Trump told Fox News that he can express things “just by thinking about it.”
Last year, Trump’s legal team told Congress that the classified materials were inadvertently sealed at the end of the administration. Most recently, Trump told CNN at a town hall that the materials were “automatically declassified” when he retrieved them.
However, there is no indication that Trump has followed the legally mandated declassification process, and his lawyers have avoided saying so far in court whether Trump has declassified the records he has kept.
This story has been updated with a response from former President Trump’s campaign.
