New Audio Is “Game Over” for Trump
CNN says new recording proves Trump knowingly lied about Mar-a-Lago docs
The news broke today.
The report, generated by CNN, claims that the special counsel, Jack Smith, has an audio recording confirming that Trump intentionally took classified documents, knew they were classified, and knew he had no power to declassify them after leaving the White House.
“If this is true, and I hate to be hyperbolic, but if this is true, it’s game over.” — Andrew Weissman, former Mueller investigation lead prosecutor
The story was reported on Deadline White House, but MSNBC has yet to verify this independently, so I searched for it online by typing “new audio proves Trump lied.”
Google delivered five stories about how Trump’s lies were captured on tape — none were related to today’s breaking news.
Bannon Confirms Leaked Audio Of Trump Plan To ‘Declare Himself Winner’ — Jul 14, 2022
Leaked Audio Proves Trump Lied About COVID — September 9, 2020
There’s a Bombshell New Audio Clip That Shows the Trump Team Strategizing Exactly How They’re Going to Push Election Fraud Lies — February 3, 2023
How Michael Cohen’s Audio Clip Unraveled Trump’s False Statements — July 25, 2018
New Woodward audiobook shows Trump knew Kim’s letters were classified — October 18, 2022
(It’s hard to believe there are still people in America who believe what Trump tells them.)
Two pages of links later, I found it:
The story outlines a recorded conversation Trump had regarding a document that was believed to be in his possession.
The meeting in which Trump discussed the Iran document with others happened shortly after The New Yorker published a story by Susan Glasser detailing how, in the final days of Trump’s presidency, [General] Milley instructed the Joint Chiefs to ensure Trump issued no illegal orders and that he be informed if there was any concern. The story infuriated Trump. (emphasis, mine) — CNN
According to the tape, Trump wanted to share a classified document that he called “Milley’s plan” for invading Iran. Trump wanted to use it to prove that it was Milley, not Trump, who wanted to attack Iran, but Trump knew if he shared a classified document, he could get into trouble.
The importance of this tape isn’t what Trump said about Milley or Iran — it’s how Trump confirmed his understanding of classified material and how it should be handled.
As the recording makes clear, Trump understood that he was not allowed to take or share classified documents, nor would he be able to declassify documents once he left office — so if the documents were not declassified before his departure, they could not be declassified by him later.
This directly contradicts Trump’s earlier statements indicating that he “had the right” to take classified documents from the White House as well as his claims that he could declassify documents at any time “just by thinking about it.”
We’ve all heard the saying that ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking the law. And while that has always been true, indicting a former president is a big enough step to warrant the assurance that the criminality being investigated was not done inadvertently.
In this case, the newly reported audio tape resolves that issue. He knew. And now we know he knew. And it doesn’t matter what he says anymore because the special counsel has him on tape admitting that he knows exactly what he can and can’t do with classified information.
In other words, Andrew Weissman is correct. It’s “Game over” for the disgraced, twice-impeached former president who has been found liable for sexual assault and defamation and will shortly also be indicted — probably on multiple counts and probably soon.
Constantly impressed with how quickly you get something out that is researched and put in context. Not to mention smart. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽