Trump on tape: Here’s what it means and what’s next

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CNN —

Former President Donald Trump’s history of making inappropriate or questionable comments on tape got another chapter Wednesday with new revelations from his life after the White House.

The latest example comes from CNN’s exclusive reporting that federal prosecutors have an audio recording of Trump admitting he was in possession of a classified Pentagon document after leaving office. The tape seems unlikely to damage his political position as the frontrunner for the GOP nomination in 2024. But it could have real consequences for the legal limbo in which he lives.

Most people remember the Access Hollywood tape of Trump using vulgar language to argue that stars can rape women. The emergence of that tape before the 2016 election did not hurt him politically. But he later defended that statement as true, unfortunately or fortunately, in a video deposition, and a jury in New York recently found him liable for sexual abuse after play the deposition with them.

And then there’s the recording of him asking Georgia election officials to find votes to help him change the results of the 2020 presidential election. Those efforts to overturn President Joe Bidens victory in the Peach State are part of an ongoing investigation.

This latest tape could also be part of a criminal case. The recording is in the possession of Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating the retention of national defense information. Smith’s investigation showed signs of coming to an end, although it did not result in any criminal charges.

So why is this revelation so important?

First of all, prosecutors love the tapes, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor, told Jake Tapper on The Lead Wednesday.

If you have a subject on tape, that’s his own words, that’s his own voice. The defense can’t say, well, there’s a witness who’s falsifying the truth.

The recording of the July 2021 meeting, which CNN did not listen to but was described by multiple sources, seriously undermines Trump’s long-standing argument that he declared in his mind the material he took from the White House. It also adds his Bedminster club to potential locations where Trump had classified documents after leaving office.

The recording of the meeting captures the sound of paper rustling, the sources said, though it’s unclear if this is the actual document in question. That raises questions about the document’s exposure because those attending the meeting included people who did not have security clearances that would have allowed them to access classified information, the sources said.

Smith focused on the meeting as part of a criminal investigation into Trump’s handling of national security secrets, and prosecutors questioned witnesses about the recording and the document before a federal grand jury, CNNs reported. Katelyn Polantz, Paula Reid and Kaitlan Collins.

In response to the report, a Trump campaign spokesperson said the leaks were meant to heat up tensions around Trump.

The recording also recalls the chaos at the end of his presidency. In the tape, sources told CNN, Trump pointed to a classified Pentagon document to try to refute the idea that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley is trying to stop him from starting a war with Iran.

In July 2021, journalist Susan Glasser reported that, near the end of Trumps presidency, Milley expressed concerns about Trump’s attempt to strike Iran and told the Joint Chiefs to make sure Trump had no illegal orders and let him know if there is anything. concern

That New Yorker story infuriated Trump. On the tape, he cited the document, which he said came from Milley, in response to that story arguing that if others saw it, it would discredit Milley, the sources said. (The document Trump referenced was not created by Milley, CNN was told.)

The existence of documents is unusual. The Joint Chiefs of Staff has a directorate dedicated to developing and proposing strategies and plans for the chairman, and another that provides guidance on current plans and operations to commanders throughout the force.

You can choose any country and scenario and probably have a contingency plan, a US official told CNNs Haley Britzky.

It was more unusual for Milley to inform Trump of those plans, the official added. As chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Milleys job is to advise and brief the president on his military options as commander in chief.

That does not mean that Gen. Milley is a warmonger, Beth Sanner, a former deputy director of National Intelligence who was involved in intelligence briefings during his career, told CNN. Quite the opposite. I spoke to him many times during my role as an intelligence officer, and he absolutely did not want to go to war with Iran.

CNN’s report also included a recording of the incredible development that investigators questioned about Milley, who is still the nation’s top general.

The most important thing here may be Trump’s acknowledgment that the document is classified, contradicting his argument that he has the unilateral power to declassify things and retrieve them from the White House.

At a CNN town hall in New Hampshire earlier this month, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Trump if he had shown any classified documents to anyone.

Not really, he told her, adding, Just let me tell you, I have every right to do whatever I want with them.

He said any classified documents he had were declassified, which the audio recording seemed to contradict.

As CNN reported, Trump’s comments on the tape suggested he wanted to share the information but was aware of the limits on his post-presidency ability to declassify records, two of the sources said.

The documents case isn’t the only legal matter hanging over Trump.

The former president, and the country he wants to lead again, need a color-coded calendar to keep track of all the legal developments involving him and help separate potential trials and appeals from upcoming debates and key dates.

Aside from the ongoing scrutiny of the 2020 election outcome, here’s what else lies ahead for Trump.

His criminal trial in New York, stemming from an investigation into his alleged role in a hush money scheme, will coincide with the primary contests in March. Soon, there is a trial in October 2023 for the New York attorney generals $250 million lawsuit against Trump, his eldest children and the Trump Organization. The Trump Organization was convicted of criminal tax fraud in December.

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