Donald Trump heard discussing ‘highly confidential’ documents in new audio recording
- Trump’s reference to something he says is ‘highly confidential’ and his apparent showing of documents could undercut claims he didn’t have any documents with him
- Trump earlier this month pleaded not guilty on 37 counts of wilfully mishandling US government secrets and conspiring to prevent their return
Former US president Donald Trump can be heard discussing secret documents he had apparently held on to and acknowledging he had not declassified them in an audio recording aired by CNN.
The two-minute recording comes from an interview Trump gave at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club in July 2021 for people working on a memoir by his former chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Parts of a transcript of the recording were cited as evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s 49-page indictment of Trump on charges he had mishandled classified documents after leaving office.
The audio file played by CNN late Monday, and also obtained by ABC and CBS, includes a moment when Trump seems to indicate he is holding a secret Pentagon document with plans to attack Iran.
You see, as president I could have declassified it. Now I can’t, you know
“These are the papers,” Trump says in the recording, a quote that was not included in the indictment.