WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of former President Donald Trump after he left office in which he talks about keeping a classified Pentagon document linked to a potential attack on Iran. , according to the media.
CNN first reported that Trump suggested on the recording that he wanted to share information from the document with others, but knew there were limits to his ability to declassify the records after he left. its functions.
The comments on the recording, made in July 2021 at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, undermined the former president’s repeated claims that he had declassified documents he took with him from the White House. at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate, after leaving office. The recording could also be a vital aid to prosecutors seeking to prove that Trump knew his ability to possess classified documents was limited.
The recording was provided to Special Counsel Jack Smith, whose team of prosecutors has spent months investigating the potential mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and whether Trump or someone else sought to criminally obstruct the investigation. The investigation appears to be in its final stages, with prosecutors having interviewed a wide range of witnesses before the grand jury.
No one has been criminally charged.
According to the CNN report, the recording was made at a rally in Bedminster with Trump aides and two people who were working on the autobiography of his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
He said Meadows’ autobiography includes a description of what appears to be the same meeting. A lawyer for Meadows declined to comment Wednesday when contacted by The Associated Press.
CNN said witnesses including Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were asked about the document. A spokesperson for Milley declined to comment.
A spokesperson for the special counsel declined to comment.
A Trump spokesperson said in a statement that the investigation was “baseless” and amounted to “continued interference in the presidential election.”