Federal prosecutors have reportedly obtained a recording of former President Donald Trump discussing classified documents kept at his private residences long after his term expires in January 2021.
According to CNN, Mr Trump’s audiotape was made during the summer of 2021, about six months after the former president left office.
It reportedly captures a discussion during which Mr Trump was reacting to the publication of a story in The New Yorker about how Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley took action to ensure that the outgoing president has not issued any illegal order.
In new yorker In the article, journalist Susan Glasser reported that Mr Milley was concerned that Mr Trump could “trigger a full-scale conflict that was not appropriate” by ordering military action against Iran.
The former president was reportedly recorded as he waved a document and said that if he could legally show it to anyone it would undermine what Mr Milley had said.
CNN reported that the audio recording featured the sound of paper rustling, as if Trump was waving a document around. Laughter was also reportedly captured in the recording when the former president noted that he was not allowed to show the document to anyone.
The July 2021 meeting took place long before Mr Trump’s aides shipped 15 boxes of records from his Palm Beach, Florida, home to the National Archives.
The transfer of the documents in January 2022 led to archives officials finding several classified documents among records sent back from Mr Trump’s residence, prompting the agency to inform the Justice Department about the discovery.
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