Latest reports about disgraced and criminally-indicted former president Donald Trump clearly show he is once again blabbing too much into a recording, this time in an interview with ghostwriters for a biography by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in 2021, several months after leaving office.
According to reports from multiple credible news sources — including CNN, the Washington Post, New York Times and others — Trump admitted having a classified document in his possession and he knew the classifications were in effect. The interview was recorded, in part, because of Trump’s demands that he be recorded because he “doesn’t trust the press.”
The recording indicates Trump understood he retained classified material after leaving the White House, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. On the recording, Trump’s comments suggest he would like to share the information but he’s aware of limitations on his ability post-presidency to declassify records, two of the sources said.
One source said the relevant portion on the Iran document is about two minutes long, and another source said the discussion is a small part of a much longer meeting.
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.
–CNN
The existence of the recording could undermine Mr. Trump’s repeated claim that he had already declassified material that remained in his possession after he left office. Prosecutors are scrutinizing whether Mr. Trump obstructed efforts by federal officials to retrieve documents he took with him after leaving office and whether he violated laws governing the handling of classified material.
On the recording, Mr. Trump began railing about his handpicked chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, who was described in media accounts at the time as having guarded against Mr. Trump’s striking Iran in the final days of the presidency, according to the people briefed on the matter.
Mr. Trump then began referencing a document that he had with him, saying that it had been compiled by General Milley and was related to attacking Iran, the people briefed on the matter said. Among other comments, he mentioned his classification abilities during the discussion, one person briefed on the matter said. Mr. Trump can be heard handling paper on the tape, though it is not clear whether it was the document in question.
The Justice Department obtained the recording in recent months, a potentially key piece in a mountain of evidence that prosecutors have amassed under the special counsel, Jack Smith, since he was appointed in November to oversee the federal investigations into Mr. Trump.
–The New York Times
It is clear that the two things keep plunging Trump deeper and deeper into the legal morass that is likely send him to federal prison are: His big mouth and recordings that document he continues to lie about his illegal and treasonous actions.
Legal experts say the recording provides clear and credible action that Trump violated the United States Espionage Act. They note that others convicted of such crimes have gone to prison and are considered traitors to America.
It clearly shows that a former president of this nation is a traitor. Yet the brain-dead MAGA base of his supporters continue to support him and want him to recapture the White House in 2024. Does that support qualify them as traitors as well?
The a growing number of Americans, polls show, say yes. A clear majority now feels he has committed serious crimes against this nation and most of them — Democrats, Republicans and independents — want him barred from running for president again, convicted and thrown into federal prison.
Yet he is still considered the frontrunner for the GOP nomination for president in the 2024 election and his closest competitor is the equally-dangerous, rabid-right-wing Ron DeSantis, who wants to drag this nation back into the puritanical dark ages.
America is, indeed, a nation in peril.
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(Edited on June 2 to correct typos and clarifications.)
