Trump waved classified military documents in front of a writer and a member of his PAC, and said 'it is like, highly confidential', feds allege
Advertisement
Paul Squire
Jun 10, 2023, 02:57 IST
President Donald Trump— seen here reaching into his suit during a news conference in 2020 — showed off classified documents after leaving the White House, prosecutors say.Evan Vucci/AP
Donald Trump knew he wasn't supposed to share classified docs, prosecutors allege in an indictment.
But he showed off a classified battle plan after he was president, saying "Look what I found," feds allege.
Trump — who's now facing 37 counts over the classified documents scandal, including charges of conspiracy and violating the Espionage Act — kept boxes of classified material at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida, prosecutors say.
And he wasn't shy about showing them off, the court documents suggest.
'This is secret information. Look, look at this'
In July 2021, months after he left the White House, the former president met with a writer and a publisher at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, about an upcoming book, the indictment says.
The meeting was recorded with Trump's permission, the feds said.
Advertisement
Trump greeted the two visitors, then pulled out a classified document showing a senior military official's proposed plan of attack and said, "Look what I found," according to the criminal indictment.
The indictment shows Trump was eager to disprove reporting that he had wanted to attack a foreign country during his presidency.
The battle plans from the military leader — which were classified — were proof that "this wasn't done by me, this was him," Trump said, according to prosecutors.
Later on, Trump admitted he "could have declassified" the plans, but "now I can't," the indictment says.
Advertisement
In a separate instance at Mar-A-Lago in August or September of 2021, prosecutors said, Trump met with a member of his PAC.
During the meeting, Trump commented that a military operation abroad wasn't going well at the time, then showed the PAC representative a classified map of the foreign country, according to the indictment.
Trump told the PAC representative that he wasn't supposed to share this, and warned him not to get too close to it, prosecutors said.
'I'm allowed to do all this'
Trump has vowed to fight the allegations and accused the Biden administration and the Justice Department of a politically motivated "witch hunt" by bringing the charges against him.
In a post online on Friday, Trump wrote a furious attack on Jack Smith, the special counsel bringing the criminal charges against him. Trump called Smith "a deranged 'psycho' that shouldn't be involved in any case having to do with 'Justice.'"
Advertisement
Trump also claimed — as his lawyers have in previous media interviews — that he always had the ability to declassify documents.
That interpretation flies in the face of standard procedure used under previous presidents to declassify documents — including channels Trump himself used during his presidency.
{{}}
NewsletterSIMPLY PUT - where we join the dots to inform and inspire you. Sign up for a weekly brief collating many news items into one untangled thought delivered straight to your mailbox.