The American television network ‘CNN’ published a recording of former President Donald Trump, in which he shows secret documents to unauthorized persons and admits that they are not declassified. This is one of the pieces of evidence exposed by special prosecutor Jack Smith and that could sink the Republican leader in the case of the documents found in his Mar-a-Lago home, under which there are 37 federal charges against him.
First modification: 06/27/2023 – 18:48
An audio puts former United States President Donald Trump on the ropes, in the case of classified documents found in one of his properties.
The judicial situation of the candidate for the 2024 presidential elections adds edges in a criminal case in which he is accused of having kept secret State files, in his Florida mansion, after having finished his cycle as head of the White House.
The US network ‘CNN’ published a sound recording on Monday, June 26, in which Trump shows the files to people who were not authorized to see them. The former president is heard acknowledging that they had not been declassified.
“When I was president, I could have declassified them, but now I can’t (…) This is secret information”, is heard in the audio of just over two minutes in length, at a time when he was allegedly showing an alleged military plan to attack Iran.
“These are the papers. This was done by the military, they gave it to me,” added the former president.
CNN exclusively obtained the audio recording of a meeting of Donald Trump in New Jersey, during 2021, in which the then president talks about the possession of documents that he did not declassifyhttps://t.co/TxdZ2aAXBT
— CNN in Spanish (@CNNEE) June 27, 2023
This is one of the pieces of evidence that the special prosecutor in the Jack Smith case has in his possession and that integrates the 37 federal charges against the former head of state.
The recording dates from July 21, 2021, six months after leaving the Executive, and the conversation would have taken place at the golf club that Trump owns in Bedminster.
It is “an exoneration”: Trump dismisses the audio on secret files
In reaction to the broadcast by ‘CNN’, the former head of state described the audio as “an exoneration”, while a spokesman for his political campaign asserted that this “provided context” to verify that there was no irregularity.
In addition, the former president, who pleaded not guilty to all the accusations against him, assured in an interview with ‘Fox News’ in recent days that he had not shown documents, as weighs in the accusation, but clippings from newspaper articles and magazines. .
“That was a huge amount of papers and other things that talked about Iran and other issues. And they may or may not have been withheld, but that was not a document,” Trump said.
FILE- Former United States President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the North Carolina Republican Party convention in Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S., on June 10, 2023. © Reuters/Jonathan Drake
In the same intervention, the Republican leader defended his decision not to return the boxes with the files that were found in his home, alleging that they could contain personal effects.
The prosecutor’s version suggests that Trump would have mishandled classified information, since he would have exposed it to unauthorized persons, who are working on the memoirs of Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff. Among them, a writer, an editor and two other workers.
How do the accusations affect Trump ahead of the 2024 elections?
Polls carried out last week by the local media ‘NBC News’ showed that the popularity of the former president has not diminished despite being the subject of 37 federal charges. The latest estimates even indicate that the gap in support between Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has widened.
The survey details that 51% of conservatives would vote for the former president in the Republican Party primaries, which determine the nominee of the blue bench in next year’s presidential elections.
Former President Donald Trump and his potential rival for the Republican nomination, Ron DeSantis. © Gaelen Morse / Reuters
DeSantis, his main contender, has 22% of the affiliates’ voting intention. Compared to a similar estimate made in April, the Florida governor was down nine points, while Trump was up another five.
“Not only are they still with Trump after the federal impeachment, but there are several signs that their support is growing or that others are losing ground,” said Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, the pollster responsible for the report.
A support that does not diminish among conservatives, but, on the contrary, increases, according to polls, and feeds the plans of the controversial ex-president to return to the White House.
With EFE and AP
2023-06-27 17:03:20
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