Multiple media outlets have obtained the complete audio recording of former President Trump discussing “secret” documents related to Iran that he possessed in 2021. The existence of the audio was previously reported, as it is part of the indictment accusing Trump of unlawfully retaining classified documents. However, CNN has obtained the actual audio and made it public. The New York Times and the Washington Post have also reported on it. (You can listen to the audio by clicking on the provided links or watch Anderson Cooper’s report on YouTube.)
- “See, as president I could have declassified it, now I can’t,” Trump says in the conversation at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club. “Isn’t that interesting? It’s so cool.”
- “I have a big pile of papers,” says Trump, shuffling through documents. “This is secret information… This was done by the military, given to me.” He refers to the papers, which describe a hypothetical military plan to attack Iran, as “secret information” and “highly confidential.”
Prosecutors are already aware of the full recording, so this is not new to them. However, CNN, the Times, and the Post argue that the audio contradicts Trump’s recent claim in an interview with Bret Baier of Fox News. In the interview, Trump stated that he was not referring to a specific classified document in the audio, but to a “massive amount of papers” that included various media stories. However, the newly released audio suggests that the former president was actually referring to a specific piece of paper or papers in front of him, according to the Times.
The conversation included a Trump aide and a writer working on a memoir of Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff. At one point, the female Trump aide made a joke about Hillary Clinton as Trump went through the papers. “Hillary would print that out all the time, you know. Her private emails,” the staffer said. “No, she’d send it to Anthony Weiner,” Trump responded, eliciting laughter. (Read more Donald Trump stories.)
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