Another leak of evidence in the Biden Department’s classified documents case against President Trump occurred Monday, with CNN airing a July 2021 recording of Trump talking about attack plans against Iran drafted by General Milley while waving a bundle of papers. In the recording, Trump can be heard arguing with Hillary Clinton and Anthony Weiner over her private email server scandal. Descriptions of the tape were previously leaked to CNN.
Special counsel Jack Smith has made the audio recording part of his espionage law case against Trump.
The recording obtained by CNN begins with Trump claiming “these are bad sick people” while his staffer claims there had been a “coup d’état” against Trump.
“Like when Milley talks about, ‘Oh, you’re going to try and stage a coup.’ No, they tried to do that before you were even sworn in,” the staffer says, according to the audio.
The next part of the conversation is largely included in the indictment, although the audio makes it clear that papers are being shuffled as Trump tells those present that he has an example to show.
“He said I wanted to attack Iran, isn’t it great?” says Trump as the sound of shuffling papers can be heard. “I have a big stack of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me with this – this is off the record, but – they presented me with this. This was him. This was the Ministry of Defense and him.”
…“I was just thinking, because we were talking about it. And you know, he said, “He wanted to attack Iran, and what…,” Trump says.
“These are the papers,” Trump continues, according to the audio file.
The Trump Sound:
“As president, I could have declassified it. Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.’
“Now we have a problem,” responds an employee. pic.twitter.com/ftNqOTnfZn
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 27, 2023
Trump spoke about the taped conversation in an interview with Bret Baier on Fox News last week:
There’s a lot going on here and this is being discussed: Trump on the inclusion of him pic.twitter.com/JpohMqb2Li
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 19, 2023
Trump, but apparently not Biden’s Justice Department, is under court order not to release evidence that is part of the trial (Axios extract):
Former President Trump and his legal team are not allowed to keep or disclose federal evidence in the classified documents case against him, a federal judge in Florida ruled Monday.
Why it matters: Magistrate Bruce Reinhart’s order against former president and co-defendant Walt Nauta, a Trump aide, that also restricts their access to material is a victory for Special Counsel Jack Smith, who asked for it to be prevented that sensitive details are revealed during the discovery process when prosecutors present the defense with evidence.
The order warns that violations could result in criminal contempt.
Background on the tape first leak to CNN (extract):
Federal prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of a summer 2021 rally in which former President Donald Trump acknowledges holding a classified Pentagon document about a possible attack on Iran, multiple sources told CNN, undermining his argument that he had released everything.
The recording indicates that Trump understood he was keeping secret materials after he left the White House, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. On the recording, Trump’s comments suggest he would be happy to share the information, but he is aware of restrictions on his post-presidency ability to release records, two of the sources said.
The July 2021 meeting took place at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, with two people who worked on the autobiography of Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, as well as aides employed by the former president, including communications specialist Margo Martin. According to sources, those present had no security clearances that would give them access to classified information. Meadows did not attend the meeting, sources said.
Meadows’ autobiography contains an account of what appears to be the same meeting, in which Trump “recalls a four-page report typed by (Trump’s former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) Mark Milley himself. It contained the general’s own plan to attack Iran, which would involve deploying massive numbers of troops, something he urged President Trump on more than one occasion during his presidency.”
Reportedly, the document in question was not found during the FBI SWAT raid on Mar-a-Lago last August, nor in any later search by Trump’s lawyers in March in response to a subpoena.