The FBI has audio of Trump saying he is holding a classified Pentagon document

Justice Department prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of the former president Donald Trump discussing the preservation of a classified Pentagon document related to a possible attack on Iran, as part of an ongoing investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents.

Trump implied on the recording that he wanted to share information from the document with others, but knew there were limits to what he could disclose after he left office, reports CNN.

The comments accompanying the recording, made in July 2021 at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, seem to undermine the former president’s repeated claims that he had stolen the documents he took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estateafter leaving the office.

Help Margo Martin regularly recorded Trump at the time so she could accurately portray his remarks in former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ memoirs.

The recording could also be an important tool for prosecutors seeking to prove that Trump knew his ability to possess classified documents was limited.

It was provided to special counsel Jack Smith, whose team of prosecutors spent months investigating the possible mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and whether Trump or anyone else tried to criminally obstruct the investigation.

The investigation appears to be in its final stages, with prosecutors hearing a broad cross-section of witnesses before the grand jury.

Trump has not yet been charged in connection with the handling of classified documents and the raid on his Florida Mar-a-Lago home, although he faces an ongoing case involving hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

The criminal investigation began last year after the National Archives and Records Administration alerted the FBI to the presence of classified documents in 15 boxes of records that Trump and his representatives belatedly returned from Mar-a-Lago.

Investigators initially issued subpoenas for the remaining classified documents, but after receiving only about three dozen during a June 2022 visit to Mar-a-Lago, they returned two months later with a search warrant and recovered about 100 more documents marked as classified.

Smith, the special counsel, is also investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election — the subject of a similar, ongoing investigation by Atlanta prosecutors.

Prosecutors in New York charged Trump earlier this year with falsifying business records.

Meadows’ autobiography includes a description of what appears to be the same encounter. A lawyer for Meadows declined to comment on Wednesday when reached by The Associated Press.

Aid Margo Martin (pictured) regularly taped Trump at the time so she could accurately portray his remarks in former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ memoir

The recording was provided to Special Counsel Jack Smith, whose team of prosecutors spent months investigating the possible mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and whether Trump or anyone else attempted to criminally obstruct the investigation.

Meadows’ autobiography includes a description of what appears to be the same encounter

Authorities stand outside Mar-a-Lago, the residence of former President Donald Trump, amid reports the FBI is executing a search warrant as part of a documents search

Meadows was one of the highest-ranking Trump officials known to have responded to a subpoena in the federal investigation.

CNN said witnesses including General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been questioned about the episode.

A spokesperson for Milley declined to comment on reports that he had been interviewed.

A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment.

A Trump spokesman said in a statement that the investigation was “credited” and amounted to “continued interference in the presidential election.”

Smith has finished collecting evidence about how confidential presidential files ended up at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week.

The newspaper, citing people familiar with the case, said Trump allies expect charges to be filed.

Special counsel enjoys broad autonomy within the Justice Department, and officials have repeatedly indicated that the recommendation on whether to prosecute charges against Trump or anyone else in the investigation belongs to Smith and his team.

Witnesses, including General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been questioned about the episode

Authorities stand outside Mar-a-Lago, the residence of former President Donald Trump, amid reports the FBI is executing a search warrant as part of a documents search

Former President Donald Trump, Greg Norman, LIV Golf CEO, right, and Paul Myler, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Australian Embassy in Washington, left, watch the second round of LIV Golf at Trump National Golf Club, Saturday, May 27 , 2023

The investigation seeks to determine whether Trump illegally kept secret documents he took from the White House to his Florida home after the end of his term in office and whether he tried to counter government efforts to recover the documents. to hinder.

Smith’s work examines whether someone was trying to thwart the criminal investigation, or whether Trump was illegally holding documents he should have turned over to authorities.

Trump insists he did nothing wrong, saying his power as president meant documents were automatically released if he chose to remove them from his official offices.

But it’s unclear whether the top lawyer has collected enough evidence for Garland to charge the ex-supreme commander with a crime.