Federal prosecutors are in possession of an audio recording of Donald Trump in which the former president admits he kept a classified document describing a potential attack on Iran, CNN reports.
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 part of the recording in which Trump discusses the Iran document is about two minutes long and part of a larger conversation, according to the report.
Katelyn Polantz, Paula Reid, and Kaitlan 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.”
According to the report, prosecutors have interviewed witnesses before a federal grand jury about the about the recording and the document, and Gen. Mark Milley, was also questioned.
Polantz, Reid, and Collins further write that, “The revelation that the former president and commander-in-chief has been captured on tape discussing a classified document could raise his legal exposure as he continues his third bid for the White House.”
