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SMOKING GUN? CNN REPORTS TRUMP ON TAPE ADMITTED HE KEPT INFORMATION HE DIDN’T DECLASSIFY

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Is this the smoking gun? According to CNN, now-indicted former President Donald Trump admitted on tape in 2021 that he kept some documents he could not declassify because he was no longer President. This would largely blow Trump’s entire defense.

CNN:

Former President Donald Trump acknowledged on tape in a 2021 meeting that he had retained “secret” military information that he had not declassified, according to a transcript of the audio recording obtained by CNN.

“As president, I could have declassified, but now I can’t,” Trump says, according to the transcript.

CNN obtained the transcript of a portion of the meeting where Trump is discussing a classified Pentagon document about attacking Iran. In the audio recording, which CNN previously reported was obtained by prosecutors, Trump says that he did not declassify the document he’s referencing, according to the transcript.

….The transcript of the audio recording suggests that Trump is showing the document he’s discussing to those in the room. Several sources have told CNN the recording captures the sound of paper rustling, as if Trump was waving the document around, though is not clear if it was the actual Iran document.

“Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” Trump says at one point, according to the transcript. “This was done by the military and given to me.”

Trump was complaining in the meeting about Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley. The meeting occurred shortly after The New Yorker published a story by Susan Glasser detailing how, in the final days of Trump’s presidency, Milley instructed the Joint Chiefs to ensure Trump issued no illegal orders and that he be informed if there was any concern.

“Well, with Milley – uh, let me see that, I’ll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn’t that amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him,” Trump says, according to the transcript. “They presented me this – this is off the record, but – they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him. We looked at some. This was him. This wasn’t done by me, this was him.”

Trump continues: “All sorts of stuff – pages long, look. Wait a minute, let’s see here. I just found, isn’t that amazing? This totally wins my case, you know. Except it is like, highly confidential. Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this.”

Meanwhile, most Republicans have been rallying behind Trump and indulging in bothsidesisms that don’t hold up under scrutiny. There have even been rumblings that House GOPers might try to halt or reduce funding to the Department of Justice and FBI in retaliation for the indictment.

Some GOP reaction:

Republicans have instantly echoed Trump’s sentiment, already accusing the Biden administration of corruption and calling it a sad day for the country.

“It’s a sad day for America. God bless President Trump,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote on Twitter.

“It’s a dark day in America when the President of the United States is arresting his political rivals. God Bless President Trump,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Tex.) also tweeted.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) accused President Biden of using DOJ for political purposes.

“Joe Biden has used his Justice Department to go after parents as ‘domestic terrorists,’ to spy on Catholic parishes, to terrorize & harass prolife Christians — and tonight to indict his top political opponent, Trump,” Hawley said in a post on Twitter. “He has trampled the rule of law to benefit himself. He has led the country into profound danger.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called the indictment “unconscionable,” also passing the blame to the president.

“Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. It is unconscionable for a President to indict the leading candidate opposing him,” McCarthy wrote. “Joe Biden kept classified documents for decades.”

“I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice,” he continued. “House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable.”

House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) also claimed that Biden “weaponizes” the DOJ for the indictment and claimed this was a “witch hunt” and was an attempt “to interfere with the 2024 election in order to prop up” Biden’s campaign.

“The exact same day that the FBI is forced to turn over to Congress absolutely damning and credible allegations regarding Joe Biden’s illegal, egregious, and treasonous corruption, Joe Biden weaponizes his Department of Justice to indict Donald Trump,” she wrote in a statement. “The American people are smart and understand this is the epitome of the illegal and unprecedented weaponization of the federal government against Joe Biden’s leading opponent, President Donald J. Trump.”

To read more GOP reaction GO HERE.


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