With our correspondent in Washington, Guillaume Naudin
The scene takes place in 2021 at Donald Trump’s summer residence in Bedminster, New Jersey. We hear the former President discussing with unauthorized persons plans for an attack on Iran put forward by the Department of Defense and, in particular, being accused of pressuring him into military action by Chief of Defense Staff General Mark Milley. And we hear him turn the pages of those plans and show them, knowing full well that they are secret.
“He said I wanted to attack Iran,” Donald Trump said. Look, it was him. He drew my attention to this. It’s confidential, secret. This is classified information, look at it. As President, I could have released them, and now I can’t… It’s so cool. »
This recording was known to exist, but has not yet been released. It contradicts two elements of Donald Trump’s defense. First, that he was never in possession of classified documents and then had the power to release them simply by the fact that he took them with him. This document is part of the Justice Department’s law enforcement effort into the most serious charges against Donald Trump to date.
It doesn’t change anything because this document was already part of the documents that the prosecutor had. It won’t really make the quest for the presidency any harder, at least not at the primary level…
Jérôme Viala-Godefroy, specialist in US domestic policy
Also Read: Trump Faces Charges by Federal Justice for His Administration of White House Archives