OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump recently unveiled fresh revelations concerning a purported “secret document” that he previously mentioned in an audio recording, which has been at the core of the federal government’s indictment earlier this month.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed 37 counts against Trump, all pertaining to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. If Trump is proven guilty of all these charges, it could lead to severe consequences, including the possibility of facing decades in prison.
Per the indictment, Trump allegedly showed classified documents to individuals without the required security clearances on two occasions. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), both incidents occurred at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, N.J.
Details regarding one of the alleged instances were leaked to CNN.
On June 2, the network disclosed that federal prosecutors had acquired an audio recording of a meeting held during the summer of 2021. In this recording, former President Donald Trump purportedly acknowledges retaining a classified Pentagon document related to a potential attack on Iran, which appears to undermine Trump’s earlier claim that he had declassified all relevant information before he left office.
The charges “include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, a scheme to conceal, and false statements and representations,” ABC News reported.
But in a broad-based Fox News interview with Bret Baier this month, Trump said that he never showed anyone the classified U.S. military plan referred to in the audio recording to anyone.
Trump firmly maintained that he never revealed any classified military strategy for attacking Iran, which U.S. Army General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reportedly prepared. He went on to say that he never issued any orders to formulate such a plan.
On July 21, 2021, the meeting took place at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, around six months after Trump’s presidency came to an end. In attendance were a writer, publisher, and two aides of the former president, and the main focus of the meeting revolved around a forthcoming book authored by Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff.
Per the indictment, at the meeting, Trump said he found Milley’s “plan of attack.” But he denied ordering Milley to create such a plan and said it was a misconception.
“I never ordered that to happen, no,” Trump told Baier.
Former Trump administration officials have since gone public to say the “secret plan” of attack against Iran that Trump allegedly showed off in the summer of 2021 never actually existed.
This week, Trump sent a fateful warning to Democrats and the Biden administration during an interview this week over the prospect of facing prison time if he is found guilty of any number of felonies he currently faces on the state and federal levels.
During an interview on The Simon Conway Show, the host asked Trump about the prospect of being put in prison and how he thought his supporters would react.
“Is it something that concerns you of the people making sure that they don’t go out of their right mind if something like that happens, if that, for example, they do say — Jack Smith says, OK, I’m going to put Donald Trump in jail?’ the host asked.
“I think it’s a very dangerous thing to even talk about because we do have a tremendously passionate group of voters, much more passion than they had in 2020 and much more passion than they had in 2016,” he said, adding, “I think it would be very dangerous.”
“They’re trying to cheat on an election by doing this,” Trump added. “It’s election interference.”
