Trump Caught On Tape Discussing 'Highly Confidential' Documents He Did Not Declassify: Report

A new audio recording obtained by CNN shows former President Donald Trump discussing the classified documents he retained during a meeting in New Jersey in 2021.

What Happened: The recording sheds new light on a conversation that serves as evidence in special counsel Jack Smith‘s federal indictment against Trump over mishandling of classified documents and an alleged attempt to prevent their disclosure to the government. 

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The recently revealed two-minute recording implies that Trump possessed classified information concerning the Pentagon’s intentions to launch an attack on Iran. The recording begins with the ex-president stating, “These are bad sick people,” while one of his staff members pointed toward General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"Like when Milley is talking about, ‘Oh, you're going to try to do a coup.' No, they were trying to do that before you even were sworn in," the staffer said. 

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"He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn't it amazing? I have a big pile of papers; this thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me this – this is off the record, but – they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him," Trump said.

The former president also pointed out that the document was "highly confidential" and had "secret information." 

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Trump can also be heard saying that the document was still classified, but "as president, I could have declassified it."

Why It Matters: Last week, in an interview with Fox News, Trump defended his retention of classified materials at his Mar-A-Lago estate after leaving the White House. Trump claimed he did not have time to sift through the boxes filled with documents, which he wanted to do before handing them over to the National Archives. When asked about the presence of Iran-related documents among the items, Trump retorted, "Not that I know of."

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