The classified document that former President Donald Trump admitted to having on tape is now missing and cannot be located by his attorneys, CNN has revealed.
The news network on Thursday reported the existence of a recording in which Trump acknowledged possessing a classified Pentagon document outlining a potential attack on Iran during a conversation in 2021.
Now, sources cited by CNN state that Trump’s legal representatives were unable to find the document when they handed over materials in response to a federal subpoena related to the investigation.
The prosecutors specifically requested “any and all” documents and materials connected to Mark Milley, Trump’s former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Iran, including invasion plans or maps.
Furthermore, it was reported that another subpoena was issued to at least one other participant present during the recorded meeting at Bedminster, New Jersey in July 2021.
Prosecutors emphasized their interest in obtaining the specific document mentioned in the recording, as well as any other material referring to classified documents that Trump still possessed, after issuing the subpoena.
In August 2022, the FBI conducted a search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, where they retrieved numerous documents of varying levels of classification. These documents were taken from the former president’s home, and they were discovered during the search.
The recording of Trump took place approximately six months after he had left office, during the summer of 2021. It reportedly captured a discussion in which Trump reacted to an article in The New Yorker, written by journalist Susan Glasser, regarding actions taken by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley to prevent Trump from issuing illegal orders.
According to the article, Milley was concerned that Trump might initiate an unwarranted full-scale conflict by ordering military action against Iran. The recording allegedly features Trump waving a document while mentioning that it would undermine Milley’s statements if he could legally show it to someone.
The audio recording is said to include the sound of paper rustling, indicating Trump’s gesture with the document, followed by laughter after he commented on his inability to share it.
It is worth noting that the July 2021 meeting occurred before Trump’s aides sent 15 boxes of records from his Florida residence to the National Archives in January 2022. During the transfer, officials at the Archives discovered multiple classified documents among the records from Trump’s residence, leading them to notify the Department of Justice about the finding.
Special prosecutor Jack Smith, who is overseeing the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump’s alleged unlawful retention of national defense information, reportedly obtained additional evidence demonstrating Trump’s attempts to obstruct the investigation by hiding documents from the government, even after receiving a grand jury subpoena demanding the return of all classified documents in his possession.
The investigation is said to be nearing completion, and charges against Trump could be filed as early as this summer. This development strengthens the prosecutors’ case against the former president.
