Transcript Released of the Tape that the DOJ Claims Is an Admission of Guilt By Donald Trump
By Bonchie | 10:00 AM on June 09, 2023
On Thursday, the Department of Justice, led by special counsel Jack Smith, took the last steps to formalize an indictment of Donald Trump. The former president took to Truth Social to reveal that he and his lawyers had been notified of what was coming and given a description of the charges. That naturally set off a firestorm among conservatives, much of it justified given how selective the prosecution appears to be.
Unfortunately, selective prosecution, while a worthy criticism and one that should eventually be punished by the next Republican president, is not a legal argument. So what’s at the meat of the charges Trump will now face? Per various reports, we know that they will range from conspiracy and obstruction to mishandling national security information under the Espionage Act.
Trump’s primary defense has been (and will presumably remain) that he declassified everything he took. The DOJ claims to have an answer to that, though, and it comes by way of a tape RedState reported on previously. Now, we have the actual transcript of that tape (CNN).
A fair warning. If are the type to dismiss anything related to this prosecution, you probably don’t want to read further because I intend to discuss the transcript and what it could mean going forward.
Former President Donald Trump acknowledged on tape in a 2021 meeting that he had retained “secret” military information that he had not declassified, according to a transcript of the audio recording obtained by CNN.
“As president, I could have declassified, but now I can’t,” Trump says, according to the transcript.
(…)
“Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” Trump says at one point, according to the transcript. “This was done by the military and given to me.”
more
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2023/06/09/transcript-released-of-the-tape-that-the-doj-claims-is-an-admission-of-guilt-by-donald-trump-n758538
