Former President Donald Trump can be heard allegedly discussing highly classified military documents, according to new audio released by CNN.
The audio recording, which aired during a segment of “Anderson Cooper 360,” was released for the first time to the public, according to CNN.
During the audio recording, Trump can be heard discussing “highly classified” military documents with a writer and publisher, who had been working on a memoir for former White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, during a July 2021 meeting in Bedminister, New Jersey. Two staff members for Trump were also shown the classified documents, according to CNN.
“These are the papers,” Trump can be heard telling a staffer during the audio recording released on Monday.
Here's the audio tape of Trump discussing a classified document involving Iran at Bedminster.
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) June 27, 2023
"I just found it, isn't that amazing? This totally wins my case… except that it is highly confidential. Secret. .. This is secret information." pic.twitter.com/KYbDT9cIcC
“That was your coup, you know, against you,” a Trump staffer can be heard on the audio recording. “Like when Milley is talking about, ‘Oh, you were going to try to do a coup.’ No, they were trying to do that before you even were sworn in.”
As Trump continues to shuffle through the papers, he commented on how “amazing” it was he had these papers. “This totally wins my case, you know. Except it is like, highly confidential.”
“Hillary would print that out all the time, you know,” said a staffer, referring to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton‘s usage of a private email server for handling classified documents.
Trump was indicted in early June and charged with 37 federal counts of conspiring to obstruct justice, mishandling classified documents, and for providing false statements.
?➡️ Former President Donald Trump has responded on Truth Social to the released audio that CNN broadcasted earlier today.
— DEL (@delinthecity_) June 27, 2023
"The deranged Special Prosecutor, Jack Smith, working in conjunction with the DOJ & FBI, illegally leaked and 'spun' a tape and transcript of me, which is… pic.twitter.com/zRSFg7QRPb
In response to the audio recording, Trump claimed Jack Smith, the federal prosecutor in Trump’s impeachment case, is working “in conjunction with the DOJ & FBI” to illegally leak and spin the audio recording of him. Trump said the audio recording “is actually an exoneration,” according to a statement released Monday evening on Truth Social.
