Bombshell in MAL investigation.
I'll discuss 7pm ET @ErinBurnett @OutFrontCNN
"Audio recording" in which Trump "acknowledges he held onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran"
Scoop by @kpolantz @PaulaReidCNN @kaitlancollins
cnn.com/2023/05/31/pol…
2. Audio recording is a meeting with several people who don't have security clearances.
If Trump discussed content of document it is even worse - and raises its own criminal exposure.
These individuals are all likely good witnesses, with disincentive to lie given their number.
3. Bedminster
CNN: The audio recording shows prosecutors "are not only looking at Trump’s actions regarding classified documents recovered from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, but also at what happened at Bedminster" summer 2021.
That's where meeting occurred.
4. War plans are among the most highly classified documents.
Puts pressure on DOJ to indict, and a jury to convict.
5. As CNN reporting notes, this recording also goes to show knowledge and intent:
"The recording indicates Trump understood he retained classified material after leaving the White House."
6. The recording also appears to knock a hole in already very weak (non-defense) defense of declassification:
"On the recording, Trump’s comments suggest he would like to share the information but he’s aware of limitations on his ability post-presidency to declassify records."
7. Make no mistake. This is squarely an Espionage Act case. It is not simply an "obstruction" case.
There is now every reason to expect former President Trump will be charged under 18 USC 793(e) of the Espionage Act.
The law fits his reported conduct like a hand in glove.
8. Prosecutors do not need to show motive for conviction, but it helps with a jury.
CNN report suggests motives: To hold onto docs as trophies, to use to settle scores or try to retain control over the narrative - here to try (in vain) to contradict @sbg1's reporting on Milley.
9. NYT corroborates CNN scoop plus with this specificity:
“Trump then began referencing a document that he had with him,”
saying it was compiled by Gen. Milley and related to attacking Iran.
That he had with him.
via @maggieNYT @jonathanvswan @alanfeuer
nytimes.com/2023/05/31/us/…
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