Federal officials have an audio recording of former President Donald Trump discussing he had a classified Pentagon document about a possible attack on Iran, CNN reported, citing multiple unidentified sources.
The recording is of a July 2021 meeting at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, according to the outlet. Attendees included several people working on an autobiography of former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, in addition to the former president’s aides.
The report comes as lawyers for the former president seek to meet with Attorney General Merrick Garland regarding the Justice Department’s investigation into classified documents found at Trump’s home and private club in Mar-a-Lago. .
Garland appointed Jack Smith to oversee investigations into Trump, including whether the former president mishandled classified documents and obstructed justice by defying a subpoena for documents he took from the White House .
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the investigation. Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, told USA TODAY in a statement, “Leaks by radical supporters behind this political persecution are designed to inflame tensions and continue media harassment of President Trump and his supporters.”
On Wednesday, the former Truth Social president also slammed federal prosecutors and accused them of seeking to interfere with the 2024 presidential race. Trump announced his re-election bid last year.
Trump’s remarks on the tape suggest he wanted to share the information but was aware of restrictions after his presidency, CNN reported.
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Investigators questioned General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the time, according to the outlet.
The meeting in the recording took place after the New Yorker reported that at the end of the Trump administration, Milley called the Joint Chiefs to make sure there was no illegal orders from the then president. On the recording, Trump says the document is from Milley, according to CNN.
When asked at a CNN town hall event earlier this month if he had shown any classified documents to anyone after his presidency, Trump replied, “Not really. I would have the right. By the way, they were declassified afterwards.
The National Archives obtained in January 2022 15 boxes of presidential records stored at Mar-a-Lago. Several media outlets reported last week that two of the former president’s employees moved boxes of papers a day before federal officials went to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve classified documents.
Contributors: David Jackson and Bart Jansen
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump taped while talking about classified Iran document: Report