


Former President Donald Trump blasted special counsel Jack Smith as "deranged" after a leaked audio recording seemed to show the former president discussing classified documents in his possession.
In the audio, which was leaked on Monday, Trump could be heard discussing a Department of Defense plan for an attack on Iran, with papers rustling as if he were waving documents around. Knowledge of this meeting, which took place in 2021, was already public, but the audio adds further context to Smith's case.
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In a post on Truth Social, the former president cited the Presidential Records Act as a reason for retaining hundreds of classified documents at his private residence, an argument he's used in the past.
"COULD SOMEBODY PLEASE EXPLAIN TO THE DERANGED, TRUMP HATING JACK SMITH, HIS FAMILY, AND HIS FRIENDS, THAT AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, I COME UNDER THE PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS ACT, AS AFFIRMED BY THE CLINTON SOCKS CASE, NOT BY THIS PSYCHOS’ FANTASY OF THE NEVER USED BEFORE ESPIONAGE ACT OF 1917," Trump wrote.
Trump then tore into President Joe Biden, who is also under a special counsel investigation for his handling of classified documents and under the microscope of the House GOP as they investigate his financial ties to foreign companies.
"'SMITH' SHOULD BE LOOKING AT CROOKED JOE BIDDEN AND ALL OF THE CRIMES THAT HE HAS PERPETRATED ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, INCLUDING THE MILLIONS & MILLIONS OF DOLLARS HE EXTORTED FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES!" Trump added.
Trump was indicted on 37 charges in Miami on June 13, 31 of them related to the "willful retention of national defense information," which is a violation of the Espionage Act.
The audio recording will likely be one of Smith's more solid pieces of evidence for those counts, as Trump seems to be discussing a piece of paper that he appears to be holding relating to defense plans related to Iran. He discusses the plan with other people in the room, saying the information is "highly confidential. This is secret information."
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Trump responded to the leak late Monday night, blasting the Justice Department and FBI for the "illegally leaked" and "spun" tape.
He said the tape serves as an "exoneration, rather than what they would have you believe."