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Donald Trump heard on tape talking about classified documents he kept after leaving the White House

Donald Trump leaving Trump Tower on Wednesday - GC Images
Donald Trump leaving Trump Tower on Wednesday - GC Images

Donald Trump was recorded on tape suggesting that he had kept a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran after leaving the White House.

Such a recording could potentially heighten his legal exposure as he seeks the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

The Justice Department is in the final stages of an investigation into whether Mr Trump, 76, broke the law by removing government records, including several marked as top secret, when he left office in 2017.

The tape recording is of a meeting in July 2021 held at Mr Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

It involved two people working on an autobiography for Mark Meadows, Mr Trump’s former chief of staff, and several aides to the former president.

Margo Martin, a communications specialist for Mr Trump, regularly recorded interviews he did for books.

She was reportedly asked about the July 2021 Bedminster recording during an appearance in front of a grand jury as part of the Justice Department investigation.

Trump angry with Gen Milley

The portion relating to the Iran document was said to be about two minutes long.

Mr Trump was reportedly angry with General Mark Milley, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during his presidency.

An article had recently appeared in the New Yorker suggesting that Gen Milley had, in the final days of the presidency, asked to be kept informed if Mr Trump issued any unlawful orders.

On the tape recording Mr Trump reportedly referred to the Iran attack document, which he said was from Gen Milley.

There was reportedly a sound of rustling paper and laughter, with Mr Trump suggesting the document was in front of him and it would undermine Gen Milley if people knew about it.

The Iran document was not produced by Gen Milley, CNN reported.

An account of the meeting was later included in Mr Meadows’ autobiography.

It describes how Mr Trump “recalls a four-page report” which “contained the general’s own plan to attack Iran, deploying massive numbers of troops”.

Trump denies wrongdoing

The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago last August and recovered at least 300 classified documents, including US secrets that may have come from human spies.

It was later reported that classified details on Iran’s missile programme were among the files discovered.

Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing, claiming that he declassified all documents in his possession.

He has said that a president can declassify information “even by thinking about it”.

Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, declined to comment on reports of a recording, but condemned “leaks” from the Justice Department investigation.

He said: “Leaks from radical partisans behind this political persecution are designed to inflame tensions and continue the media’s harassment of president Trump and his supporters.”

The Justice Department declined to comment.

Its inquiry is being led by special counsel Jack Smith, who is also investigating whether Mr Trump or his associates obstructed their efforts to investigate his retention of government records.

The special counsel is also investigating efforts to overturn Mr Trump’s 2020 election loss that culminated in the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

James Trusty, a lawyer representing Mr Trump said: “When he left for Mar-a-Lago with boxes of documents that other people packed for him that he brought, he was the commander in chief.

“There is no doubt that he has the constitutional authority as commander in chief to declassify.”