New recordings of Trump discussing the 2021 classified documents have been obtained by CNN, the US media outlet reported Monday night.
The recordings included previously undisclosed details regarding critical evidence in Trump's recent indictment over the mishandling of evidence, specifically indicating access to secret Pentagon documents citing plans to attack Iran, CNN reported.
Parts of the audio recording were not part of his trial
The audio included statements from the former US president actively referring to "the papers [which are] highly confidential." The audio also showed other people in the room, CNN reported, stating that this goes against his claims in a Fox News interview last week that he did not actually have documents on him.
“There was no document. That was a massive amount of papers and everything else talking about Iran and other things,” Trump said on Fox. “And it may have been held up or may not, but that was not a document. I didn’t have a document, per se. There was nothing to declassify. These were newspaper stories, magazine stories and articles.”
The former US president pleaded not guilty to his 37 counts of charges relating to allegedly mishandling classified documents kept at his Palm Beach, Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago.
The recording came from an interview allegedly given in July 2021 for the memoir of Mark Meadows Trump's former chief of staff. According to CNN, the special counsel's indictment alleged that those in attendance – a writer, publisher, and two of Trump’s staff members – were shown classified information about the Pentagon's plan of attack on Iran.
These recordings are also evidence that Trump shared information with people who did not have the proper security clearance needed to learn classified information.