A document purportedly detailing plans for a US attack against Iran — and referenced in a recently released audio recording of former President Donald Trump discussing classification procedures — is not one of 31 documents referenced in an indictment charging him with hoarding national defense information.
Though a partial transcript of the July 21, 2021, conversation at the 77-year-old’s Bedminster, NJ golf club was included in the 49-page indictment unsealed June 9, Trump was not accused of retaining the document in question, CBS News reported late Tuesday.
The indictment noted that Trump showed and described a “plan of attack” to a writer, a publisher, and two members of his staff.
“At the time of this exchange, the writer, the publisher and Trump’s two staff members did not have security clearances or any need-to-know any classified information about a plan of attack on [Iran],” prosecutors wrote.
Trump has repeatedly denied that he was showing off any sensitive papers, insisting in recent interviews that “there was no document” and “there was nothing to declassify, these were newspaper stories, magazine stories and articles” discussed in the audio.
“I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me this – this is off the record but – they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him,” Trump was heard in the audio snippet, referencing Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The individuals in the room are believed to include Kate Hartson and Louise Burke, who had started All Seasons Press, a conservative publishing company, that same year.
At the time of the conservation, Trump was vexed by a New Yorker article claiming that Milley had worked to prevent Trump from ordering an attack on Iran during his final days in the White House, CNN reported.
“See, as president I could have declassified it,” Trump added in the audio. “Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”
That remark seemingly undercuts the former president’s public insistence last year that he had already declassified material prior to his White House departure and that a president can do so non-verbally or without putting his order into writing.
It remains unclear whether the Iran memo referenced in the recording has been accounted for by the government.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the 37-count indictment June 13 in Miami federal court.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting the case, has asked judge Aileen Cannon to push the start date of a potential trial back to Dec. 11 from its scheduled Aug. 13 start.