“These are the papers”: new explosive audio recordings of Trump emerged. Was that for Schoigu? His successor should already be ready

“These are the papers,” Trump says in the audio recording, referring to what he describes as “strictly confidential” and apparently showing someone else in the room, CNN reports. The statements on the audio recording contrast sharply with what the former US president has said about his handling of the classified documents found in his possession.

Specifically, it appears to be a secret Pentagon document about an attack on Iran that Trump is passing around. “As president I could have released them, now I can’t,” Trump said in the 2021 recording published Monday evening (local time) by US broadcaster CNN.

The existence of the recording was already known – the copy is a central part of the indictment. The media also reported the sound recording, which had not yet been published. Trump has repeatedly claimed classified information was no longer classified after it was taken to his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The recording could undermine Trump’s argument.

The Federal Police FBI had searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August and seized numerous classified documents from his tenure, some of them at the highest level of classification. Storing confidential government documents in private rooms after his term in office could have made Trump a criminal offence. He was charged in the affair in mid-June and was ordered to appear in person in federal court in Miami. Trump pleaded “not guilty”. It was the first time a former US president had appeared in federal court to face charges. (con/sda/dpa)