The Trump campaign on Wednesday issued a fiery rebuke to the Department of Justice alleging the agency leaked information to CNN after the outlet reported that federal prosecutors are in possession of audio in which the former president admits he kept a classified document describing a potential attack on Iran.
Trump is heard on the recording suggesting that, although he wishes to share the information, he’s aware that as a former president he can’t declassify them, multiple sources told the cable news channel, indicating he understood he was in possession of classified material.
CNN has not heard the audio.
The Trump campaign accused the DOJ of engaging in “political persecution” that aims to further divide the country in a statement obtained by Kaitlan Collins.
“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,” the statement said.
“It’s just more proof that when it comes to President Trump, there are absolutely no depths to which they will not sink as they pursue their witch hunts. The DOJ’s continued interference in the presidential election is shameful and this meritless investigation should cease wasting the American taxpayer’s money on Democrat political objectives.”
According to the report, prosecutors have interviewed witnesses before a federal grand jury about the recording and the document, and Gen. Mark Milley, was also questioned.
Katelyn Polantz, Paula Reid, and Collins write for CNN that “Special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the Justice Department investigation into Trump, has focused on the meeting as part of the criminal investigation into Trump’s handling of national security secrets. Sources describe the recording as an ‘important piece of evidence in a possible case against Trump,' who has repeatedly asserted he could retain presidential records and ‘automatically’ declassify documents.”