The reported audio recording obtained by prosecutors in the investigation of Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents recovered from his Florida estate is one of several “smoking guns” against the ex-president, former prosecutor Glenn Kirschner said.
According to a Wednesday report from CNN, the recording from July 2021 includes Trump describing a classified Pentagon document containing details about a potential attack on Iran. During the conversation, the former president acknowledged that he had classified material in his possession after leaving the White House, and suggested that he would like to share the information with his associates but is “aware” that he is limited to declassify records after his presidency, according to the report.
The audio clip directly counters the former president’s previous claims that all documents recovered from his Mar-a-Lago home were declassified before he removed them from the White House, and could play a huge role in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe into Trump’s handling of top-secret information.
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CNN did not listen to the recording, but its contents were described to the outlet by multiple sources close to the investigation, read its report. Legal experts have suggested that if the recording does exist, Trump will likely be facing a federal criminal indictment soon.
Kirschner, a former federal prosecutor and staunch critic of Trump, echoed in his latest Justice Matters podcast episode that the report of the recording was a “blockbuster” in the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation, but expressed frustration that charges against the former president have yet to materialize with a “great big pile of smoking guns” against him.
“I would call this smoking gun evidence, but what does smoking gun evidence really mean when it comes to evidence proving Donald Trump committed crimes?” Kirschner said at the beginning of Wednesday’s episode. “Because there’s a whole arsenal full of smoking guns, none of which has led to Donald Trump being charged with a single solitary crime.”
Nevertheless, Kirschner said that the recording is “sharply incriminating evidence” in Smith’s investigation, adding that it could likely lead to Espionage Act charges against the former president. Ryan Goodman, former special counsel to the general counsel of the Department of Defense, predicted earlier in the day that CNN’s report likely indicated that espionage charges were forthcoming for Trump.
“Given that these documents he was flashing around and talking about seem to contain national defense information, this may actually up the ante, as far as the incriminating evidence goes, that Donald Trump indeed violated the Espionage Act,” Kirschner added Wednesday.
Kirschner also pointed out that Trump’s statements on the recording directly counter the former president’s previous claims that he had declassified all of the documents taken to his Mar-a-Lago estate before leaving the Oval Office.
“Now, there’s an audio recording of Donald Trump saying six months after he left the presidency, ‘I got these documents here about plans to attack Iran. I’d like to show them to you, but I can’t, they’re classified,'” Kirschner continued. “So Donald Trump’s own words put the lie to Donald Trump’s declassification claims.”
Kirschner previously predicted that charges relating to the DOJ investigation of the classified documents were likely next in Trump’s long list of ongoing criminal investigations. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has also recently indicated that her office’s investigation of Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 Georgia election is coming to a close in the coming months, and Smith is continuing to lead the charge in the DOJ probe of the former president’s activities surrounding the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump also faces charges after an investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The former president is accused of falsifying business records in connection to several hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony counts in the New York City indictment.
In a statement to Newsweek on Wednesday, a Trump spokesperson said that CNN’s report about the recording was based on “leaks from radical partisans” who want “to inflame tensions and continue the media’s harassment of President Trump and his supporters.”
Trump also took to Truth Social a few hours after the report was published, lashing out at the “Democrat ‘Persecutors'” that had leaked the audio recording, claiming that it was intended to interfere with his reelection campaign in 2024.
“Massachusetts’ top federal prosecutor leaked sensitive information from the Justice Department in an effort to help a friend win an election, and hurt the opponent,” Trump wrote, seemingly referring to Rachael Rollins, former U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, who was accused of multiple ethics violations.
“The prosecutor just resigned. Big ramifications,” the former president continued. “BUT WAIT, all of the Democrat ‘Persecutors’ that are trying to Interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election are leaking constantly, and illegally, about me. Will they be resigning, and will there be an investigation into their leaking? There should be!”
Despite the list of legal troubles, Trump continues to lead his fellow Republican challengers in preliminary polling ahead of the 2024 GOP primary, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who announced his candidacy last week.