Exclusive: CNN acquires tape of Trump’s 2021 conversation about classified documents

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CNN —

CNN has exclusively obtained the audio recording of the 2021 meeting in Bedminster, New Jersey, where President Donald Trump discussed handling classified documents that he did not declare.

Listen to the conversation

Listen to audio exclusively obtained by CNN of a July 2021 conversation in which former President Donald Trump acknowledges he has a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran.

The recording, which first aired on CNNs Anderson Cooper 360, includes new details from the conversation that is a critical piece of evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s accusation against Trump of mishandling classified information, including a moment when Trump appeared to indicate that he was in possession of a secret Pentagon document with a plan to attack Iran.

These are the papers, Trump said in the audio recording, as he discussed the Pentagon’s attack plans, a quote not included in the indictment.

In the two-minute audio recording, Trump and his aides also joked about Hillary Clinton’s emails after the former president said the document was classified information.

Hillary prints that all the time, you know. His private emails, Trumps staff say.

No, send it to Anthony Weiner, Trump responded, referring to the former Democratic congressman, prompting laughter from the room.

Trump’s remarks on the audio recording, which he says are the documents and refers to something he calls highly confidential and appears to be showing others in the room, may cut into what the former presidents said in an interview last week. on Fox News’ Bret Baier that he didn’t. have any documents with him.

No document. That’s a tremendous amount of papers and everything else talking about Iran and other things, Trump said on Fox. And it may or may not have been held up, but that is not a document. I have no documents, per se. Nothing should be declassified. These are newspaper stories, magazine stories and articles.

Trump pleaded not guilty earlier this month to 37 counts related to the alleged mishandling of classified documents kept at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

The audio recording comes from a July 2021 interview Trump gave at his Bedminster resort for people working on the memoir by Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff. The special counsel’s lawsuit alleges that those who attended were a writer, a publisher and two members of Trumps staff were shown classified information about the plan to attack Iran.

The episode is one of two referenced in the indictment in which prosecutors allege Trump disclosed classified information to others without security clearances.

CNN previously reported that Trump at the time was furious over a New Yorker article about Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley who said Milley had argued against striking Iran and was worried that Trump would instigate a full-scale conflict.

The special counsel’s office declined to comment.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in the statement that the audio tape provides context that proves, once again, that President Trump has done nothing wrong.

This is the ‘single most important’ piece of evidence in Trump’s impeachment, according to CNN’s legal analyst

The recording obtained by CNN begins with Trump claiming that these are bad people, while his staffer says that there has been a coup against Trump.

As Milley would say, Oh you’re going to try to stage a coup. No, they tried to do that before you were even sworn in, the staffer said, according to the audio.

The next part of the conversation mostly involved the accusation, though the audio made it clear that there were papers being read as Trump told attendees he had an example to show.

He said I want to attack Iran, Isn’t it amazing? Trump said as the sound of shuffling papers could be heard. I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came. Look. This is him. They presented it to me off the record but they showed it to me. This is him. It was the Department of Defense and him.

The indictment includes ellipses where a recording obtained by CNN shows where Trump and his aide began talking about Clinton and Weiner’s emails, whose laptop led the FBI to reopen the investigation. its handling of classified information in the days leading up to the 2016 election. lost to Trump.

Trump then returned to the Iran document, according to the audio recording and transcript of the indictment.

I was just thinking, because we were talking about it. And you know, he said, He wants to attack Iran, and what, Trump said.

These are the papers, Trump continued, according to the audio file.

Trump offers new excuse for not handing over classified material to investigators

The military did it and gave it to me, Trump continued, before noting that the document remained classified.

See as president I can declassify it, Trump said. Now I can’t, you know, but it’s still a secret.

Now we have a problem, his staff answered.

Isn’t that interesting, Trump said.

While that was the last line included in the indictment, an audio recording obtained by CNN included a few additional lines from the conversation:

Trump: It’s great. I mean, its so, look, her and I, and you probably didn’t believe me, but now you believe me.

Writer: No, I believed you.

Trump: It’s incredible, right?

Writer: No, they never met a war they didn’t like.

Trump: Hey, bring, uh, bring Cokes.

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