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Former president Donald Trump has repeatedly asserted a legally dubious claim that he declassified sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago property before he left the White House after losing the 2020 presidential election. But he admitted, on a tape, six months after leaving office, that a document in his possession was “classified”, “highly confidential” and “secret information”. He admitted, on tape, that he could declassify such documents as president, but now that he is out of office, “I can’t.” The recording from July 2021 was in possession of federal prosecutors investigating the former president’s alleged mishandling of hundreds of documents bearing classification markings found in boxes at his Florida home, and whether he lied to authorities and his attorneys about the records he was keeping. A transcript of the recording published by CNN is expected to be a central piece of evidence in a federal case against the former president, who faces 37 counts in a federal indictment unsealed on 9 June. The recording also appears to contradict his ongoing, bogus claims about documents in his possession, as he rails against the federal “witch hunt” against him, among a long list of criminal charges, lawsuits and other legal actions he faces in courtrooms across the country. Last year, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he could declassify sensitive material by thinking about it. “If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying it’s declassified – even by thinking about it,” he said. “Because you’re sending it to Mar-a-Lago or wherever you’re sending it. There doesn’t have to be a process. There can be a process, but there doesn’t have to be.” In an appearance on Fox News with Hannity last week, the former president dismissed reports of the tape. “All I know is this: everything I did was right,” he said. By July 2021, officials at the National Archives and Records Administration had already spent several weeks urging Mr Trump to return documents they believed he had in his possession, culminating in a federal law enforcement search of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022. The recording appears to have taken place at Mr Trump’s resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, alongside two people working with his former chief of staff Mark Meadows on his memoir from his time in the administration. Aides for Mr Trump, including communications specialist Margo Martin, also were reportedly present. Ms Martin was reportedly asked about the recording during a grand jury appearance in the case. A transcript of the recording suggests that the former president was showing the document to people in the room. The file allegedly involves a US Department of Defense report involving an attack on Iran. “Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” he said at one point, according to the transcript. “This was done by the military and given to me.” The meeting followed The New Yorker’s publication of a story from Susan Glasser detailing how, in the final days of Mr Trump’s presidency, his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley had instructed his team to prevent Mr Trump from launching a strike that could trigger a war. Mr Trump reportedly sought to use the document to discredit Mr Milley’s warnings and undermine reports that Mr Milley pushed back against an increasingly erratic president in the finals days of the administration, but the document reportedly was drafted much earlier in Mr Trump’s administration under then-Joint Chiefs chairman Joseph Dunford. “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,” Mr Trump said, according to the transcript. “They presented me this – this is off the record, but – they presented me this,” he added. “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.” Later, he said there was “all sorts of stuff – pages long.” “Wait a minute, let’s see here,” he continued. “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.” “Secret” and “confidential” are among classification markings for sensitive government documents. Mr Trump is charged with 31 of 37 counts under a section of the Espionage Act that prohibits “gathering, transmitting or losing” any “information respecting the national defence”. The use of Section 793, which does not make reference to classified information, is likely intended to undercut Mr Trump’s attempts to claim that he declassified such documents before moving them to his Florida home. That statute is written in a way that could encompass Mr Trump’s conduct even if he was authorised to possess the information as president. It states that anyone who “lawfully having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document … relating to the national defence” and “willfully” transmits such information in any way can face a prison sentence of up to 10 years. For an additional conviction on a charge of obstruction, prosecutors must prove whether he knowingly kept documents from authorities and willfully defied the Justice Department’s subpoena for documents in his possession. A conviction includes a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. The investigation is one of two helmed by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland to lead a probe into the documents and Mr Trump’s role in the January 6 attempt to subvert the 2020 presidential election. Read More Trump indictment - live: Trump says he’s ‘an innocent man’ as he faces seven charges in documents case Obstruction, witness tampering, conspiracy: The federal charges against Donald Trump How Trump’s second indictment unfolded: A timeline of the investigation into Mar-a-Lago documents

Breaking down more possible Braves trade targets that Atlanta should be eyeing from sellers at the MLB Trade Deadline, this time from the Tigers.On the heels of an electric series sweep of the Mets in which they came from behind to win each game, the Atlanta Braves are riding high. That's n...

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., one of the world’s largest gold producers, has reduced activities “at times” within its

Former president Donald Trump showed highly-classified information to unauthorised persons on two separate occasions, according to a copy of the indictment against him that has been obtained by The Independent. The 49-page, 37-count indictment was unsealed on Friday after Mr Trump released a series of social media posts revealing that he has been indicted by a grand jury under supervision of Special Counsel Jack Smith. The indictment details the charges against Mr Trump and Walter Nauta, a former US Navy noncommissioned officer who left government service to work for Mr Trump after his term ended in January 2021. It also lays out the two instances on which Mr Trump showed classified documents to unauthorised persons at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club. The first, in July 2021, was during an interview with a writer and a publisher who were working on a book by his ex-chief of staff, Mark Meadows. According to the indictment, Mr Trump showed the writer, the book publisher, and two staff members who lacked security clearances a “plan of attack” put together by General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had recently been reported as criticising Mr Trump by the New Yorker. The second instance involved a classified map of an unnamed country, and staff working for Mr Trump’s political action committee. The indictment states that Mr Trump acknowledged that he lacked the authorization to show the documents at issue to the people who were present for both incidents. According to the indictment, the 37 charges against Mr Trump and Mr Nauta include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and false statements and representations. More follows... Read More Rep. Santos says he's protecting family members by seeking to keep bond cosigners secret DoJ unseals Trump classified papers indictment as aide also faces charges - live Trump ‘body man’ Walt Nauta has been indicted alongside ex-president

Donald Trump described a “plan of attack” devised by the Pentagon and shared a classified military map with a member of his political action committee who didn’t have a security clearance, the 37-count indictment against the former president shows. The indictment was unsealed on Friday afternoon. More follows...

Donald Trump has been indicted over his refusal to return classified documents found at his Florida home, the

After falling back to .500, the Los Angeles Angels have ripped off four straight wins to get to 34-30 as they welcome the Seattle Mariners to town for three games. Seattle comes in at 30-31 after losing four of their last five games. The AL West is one of the best divisions in baseball and the race ...

The longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere is coming on June 21, 2023.

Tennessee travels to Hattiesburg to face Southern Mississippi in the Super Regionals round with Game 1 on Saturday.Both teams had wild runs to the Super Regionals with Tennessee needing extra innings to get past Clemson and Southern Mississippi using ace Tanner Hall for over 100 pitches in a los...

Matt Rhule is going back to the basics when it comes to what Nebraska football's fall camp will look like.While we all Remember the Titans, maybe one day soon we will Remember the Huskers?With Matt Rhule taking over in Lincoln, the Nebraska football head coach is having his players and ...

Two SEC foes meet in the Super Regionals of the 2023 college baseball tournament with a spot in Omaha, Nebraska on the line.LSU took two of three from Kentucky at home during the regular season, and will look to do similar over the weekend in Baton Rouge against a Wildcats team that snuck into t...

The Big 12 will likely be expanding again soon, possibly adding the UConn Huskies for hoops.While conference realignment has more to do with the moneymaker that is college football than anything, it is also advantageous to kick the tires on major college basketball brands such as the UConn Huski...