UNITED STATES NEWS

Audio emerges with new details of Trump’s 2021 conversation about classified documents

Jun 27, 2023, 6:00 PM

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — An audio recording that includes new details from a 2021 meeting at which former President Donald Trump discusses holding secret documents he did not declassify has been released.

The recording, from a July 2021 interview Trump gave at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort for people working on the memoir of his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, is a critical piece of evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Trump over the mishandling of classified information. The recording first aired Monday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.”

The special counsel’s indictment alleges that those in attendance at the meeting with Trump — a writer, a publisher and two of Trump’s staff members — were shown classified information about a Pentagon plan of attack on an unspecified foreign country.

“These are the papers,” Trump said in a moment that seems to indicate he was holding a secret Pentagon document with plans to attack Iran. “This was done by the military, given to me.”

Trump’s reference to something he says is “highly confidential” and his apparent showing of documents to other people at the meeting could undercut his later claims in a Fox News Channel interview that he didn’t have any documents with him.

“There was no document. That was a massive amount of papers, and everything else talking about Iran and other things,” Trump said on Fox. “And it may have been held up or may not, but that was not a document. I didn’t have a document, per se. There was nothing to declassify. These were 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.

A Trump campaign spokesman said the audio recording “provides context proving, once again, that President Trump did nothing wrong at all.”

 

United States News

Associated Press

Ramaswamy was the target of death threats in New Hampshire that led to FBI arrest, campaign says

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man has been accused of sending text messages threatening to kill a presidential candidate ahead of a scheduled campaign event Monday, federal prosecutors said. The U.S. Attorney’s office did not name the candidate. However, a spokesperson for Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Monday that the texts were directed […]

29 minutes ago

Associated Press

Man filmed wielding folding chair in riverfront brawl pleads guilty to misdemeanor

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A man filmed swinging a folding chair during an Alabama riverfront brawl this summer pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge Monday. The guilty plea resolved the last of the charges brought in connection with the brawl. The man was ordered to perform community service and given a suspended sentence. […]

30 minutes ago

Associated Press

Bronze top hat missing from Abraham Lincoln statue in Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Abraham Lincoln’s top hat is missing from a bronze sculpture along the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky. The sculptor, Ed Hamilton, posted photos of his artwork at Waterfront Park on Facebook on Saturday and said someone stole the hat from the sculpture. “They had to be strong and determined to pry […]

51 minutes ago

Researchers from NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center inspected a 52-foot-long female fin whale ...

Associated Press

52-foot-long dead fin whale washes up on San Diego beach; cause of death unclear

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A 52-foot-long (16-meter-long) dead fin whale washed up on a San Diego beach over the weekend and officials said there was no obvious sign of the cause of death. The young female whale was found Sunday in Mission Beach and was later towed out to sea, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. […]

60 minutes ago

FILE - Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to the media about an indictment of former President Donal...

Associated Press

Special counsel Jack Smith asks Supreme Court to rule quickly on whether Trump can be prosecuted

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday asked the Supreme Court to take up and rule quickly on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results. A federal judge ruled the case could go forward, but Trump, 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner, signaled […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

Rapper Quando Rondo charged with federal drug crimes. He was already fighting Georgia charges

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The rapper Quando Rondo has been indicted on federal drug charges in Georgia, where he also faces state gang and drug charges filed six months ago. Chatham County jail records show the 24-year-old rapper, whose real name is Tyquian Terrel Bowman, was booked in the federal case Saturday after being arrested […]

1 hour ago

Sponsored Articles

(KTAR News Graphic)...

KTAR launches online holiday auction benefitting Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley

KTAR is teaming up with The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley for a holiday auction benefitting thousands of Valley kids.

...

Dierdre Woodruff

Interest rates may have peaked. Should you buy a CD, high-yield savings account, or a fixed annuity?

Interest rates are the highest they’ve been in decades, and it looks like the Fed has paused hikes. This may be the best time to lock in rates for long-term, low-risk financial products like fixed annuities.

Follow @KTAR923...

West Hunsaker at Morris Hall supports Make-A-Wish Foundation in Arizona

KTAR's Community Spotlight this month focuses on Morris Hall and its commitment to supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Arizona.

Audio emerges with new details of Trump’s 2021 conversation about classified documents