Listen: CNN publishes audio of 2021 Trump interview at the heart of DOJ’s classified documents case
26 June 2023
CNN on Monday released exclusive audio recording of former President Donald Trump discussing his possession of “secret” documents he did not declassify before leaving office. The audio is a major piece of evidence at the center of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s handing of classified documents.
As the Department of Justice wrote in its indictment of the former president — which was filed with the United States District Court in the Southern District of Florida on June 8 — Trump gave an interview on July 21, 2021 at his Bedminster club in New Jersey during which he revealed “secret information” to the writer in the presence of two of his staff membersstaff members. The interview “was recorded with Trump’s knowledge and consent,” according to Smith’s indictment.
As the New York Times wrote in an annotation of the indictment, Trump in the recording “acknowledged that he had a document that was still classified and was showing it to three other people who did not have security clearances and were not authorized to see it.”
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Now, CNN is publishing audio of that exchange.
“Isn’t it amazing?” Trump asks in a short clip of the audio. “I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. They presented me this — this is off the record — but they presented me this.”
“This was done by the military and given to me,” Trump adds.
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“See as president I could have declassified it,” he says. “Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”
Listen to the audio below via CNN, or at this link.