CNN reports having obtained a transcript of a 2021 meeting where former President Donald Trump allegedly talked about being in possession of “secret” and “confidential” materials.
Trump announced on Thursday he had been indicted on federal charges “seemingly” related to the classified documents case. CNN’s report regarding a 2021 meeting at Trump’s resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he purportedly spoke of being in possession of classified material relating to Iran, surfaced on Friday.
“Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” states the transcript — the source of which is not specified — according to the outlet’s Paula Reid and Jeremy Herb. “This was done by the military and given to me.”
Two individuals working on a biography for his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, communication strategist Margo Martin, and other unidentified Trump aides were allegedly at the meeting, where Trump was critical of Gen. Mark Milley.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley participates in a news briefing at the Pentagon on July 20, 2022 in Arlington, Virginia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
According to the article, the meeting came on the heels of a report from the New Yorker’s Susan Glasser that asserted in the final months of the Trump administration, Milley “engaged in an alarmed effort to insure that Trump did not embark on a military conflict with Iran as part of his quixotic campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election.”
“I’M AN INNOCENT MAN!” Donald Trump Responds to News of Indictment in Classified Docs Case:
Trump, who has contended he declassified the documents surrounding the indictment, allegedly said at the meeting that Milley’s assertion he “wanted to attack Iran” was “amazing,” potentially insisting the documents discussed in the alleged transcript disprove the narrative:
“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.”
Sources, which CNN does not provide any background information on, allegedly say that the sound of rustling papers can be heard in the background of the audio, while the transcript itself reportedly implies he is actively displaying documents. It is unclear if the transcript concerns any of the counts Trump faces, which the outlet states are seven.