CNN reports that federal prosecutors in the United States possess an audio recording from 2021 of former President Donald Trump admitting that he kept a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran after departing the White House. CNN did not listen to the recording but cited multiple unidentified sources describing it in its Wednesday report. The news agency stated that it was unable to corroborate the allegation. CNN reports that the recording indicates Trump, who is pursuing the Republican nomination for president in 2024, was aware he retained classified information after leaving the White House in 2021.
Two sources told the broadcaster that Trump’s comments indicated he wanted to share the information but was aware of his limited ability to declassify documents after leaving office. Trump has refuted any improper conduct. Reporter said that a Trump representative refused to comment on the report of the recording or on the specific statements attributed to Trump, and characterized the investigation as politically motivated. “Leaks from radical partisans behind this political persecution are designed to inflame tensions and continue the media’s harassment of President Trump and his supporters,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told the agency on Wednesday. Peter Carr, the spokesperson for the office of Special Counsel Jack Smith at the Department of Justice, declined to comment. The Justice Department is investigating whether Trump violated the law by retaining US government records, some of which were classified as top secret, after leaving office in 2021.
In August, the department disclosed that it was investigating Trump for removing White House records because it believed he illegally held documents, including some involving intelligence-gathering and clandestine human sources – among the most closely guarded secrets in the United States. Smith is investigating whether Trump or his associates obstructed the Justice Department’s investigation into his retention of thousands of classified government documents. The special counsel is also investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, which culminated in the fatal attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
