A source directly acquainted with the incident informed NBC News that special counsel Jack Smith’s team got a video of former President Donald Trump discussing a confidential planning paper that he had removed from the White House.
The planning paper Trump kept was related to Iran, and the former president confirmed on the audio that it was classified.
The recording was recorded in July 2021 at Trump’s golf estate in Bedminster, New Jersey, during a meeting with persons assisting former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows with his memoir. The recording was played during testimony to the grand jury probing Trump’s handling of secret documents.
The evidence appears to call into question Trump’s assertion that he declassified all government documents that came into his possession after he left the White House. It would be critical in any effort by prosecutors to prove that Trump was aware he possessed classified information.
CNN was the first to announce that federal agents had seized the audio recording. The recording has not been heard.
The special counsel’s probe into Trump appears to be winding down, focusing on his alleged mishandling of more than 100 sensitive documents seized at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida last year.
Trump has denied any misconduct, dismissing charges of mishandling secret documents. Last year, he stated that he could declassify records “by thinking about it.”
In a redacted statement last year, FBI agents stated that they discovered 184 unique papers with classified marks in the 15 boxes that Trump returned to the National Archives in January.
Here’s a tweet from one of the most popular websites, The Hill, about Special Counsel Obtains Trump Tape On Classified Document Discussion:-
The Justice Department reportedly has an audio recording of former President Trump discussing a classified Pentagon document regarding a potential U.S. attack on Iran.
— The Hill (@thehill) June 1, 2023
According to the affidavit, 25 documents were designated “TOP SECRET,” 67 were marked “confidential,” and 92 were marked “secret.”
According to court records released by a federal judge, the search of Mar-a-Lago by FBI agents on August 8 yielded a treasure of top secret and other highly classified papers.
During that “raid,” as Trump described it, federal authorities removed 11 more sensitive documents, including those labeled secret and top secret.
In November, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith as special counsel, stating that the appointment was in the public’s interest “based on recent developments, including Trump’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election, and the current president’s intention to be a candidate in the next election.”
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