‘This is secret information’: Donald Trump’s stunning admission on tape revealed amid indictment

Donald Trump’s historic federal indictment has been unsealed as a bombshell audio recording surfaces of him boasting about having “secret” military information.

The federal indictment charging former US president Donald Trump and his associate with mishandling classified documents, including top secret nuclear information, has been unsealed.

Mr Trump is facing 37 counts of unauthorised possession of classified material, obstructing of justice and making false statements to law enforcement, according to court filings made public on Friday. His valet and aide Waltine Nauta was indicted on six federal counts, detailed in the filing for allegedly helping to move some of the boxes of documents from one room to another.

The classified documents seized by the FBI from Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence contained information about the US’ nuclear program, the weapons capabilities of the US and other foreign powers, as well as “the potential vulnerabilities of the US and its allies to military attack”, the indictment alleges.

“Over the course of his presidency, Trump gathered newspapers, press clippings, letters, notes, cards, photographs, official documents, and other materials in cardboard boxes that he kept in the White House,” the indictment states.

“Among the materials Trump stored in his boxes were hundreds of classified documents.”

The now-seized documents are seen at various rooms in Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, including a bathroom. Picture: Department of Justice

It claims the documents were stored for more than a year in a ballroom, a shower, a bedroom, and an office at his Florida social club, with hundreds of members and 150 staff – without authorisation – and could have put the national security of the US at risk.

“The classified documents Trump stored in his boxes included information regarding defence and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack,” the indictment says.

The indictment also alleges that Mr Trump “endeavoured to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal his continued retention of classified documents”.

According to the filing, the former president tried to obstruct investigations by “suggesting that his attorney falsely represent to the FBI and grand jury that [he] did not have documents called for by the grand jury subpoena” and even “suggesting that his attorney hide or destroy documents called for by the grand jury subpoena”.

Boxes of classified documents were also stored in the ballroom, according to the indictment. Picture: Department of Justice

Documents are seen falling out of boxes. Picture: Department of Justice

According to the filing, Mr Trump kept documents without authorisation from several intelligence branches of the US government, including the CIA, the Department of Defence, the National Security Agency, the Department of Energy and the State Department.

It also detailed how Mr Trump allegedly concealed these documents from investigators and his own lawyers, taking boxes of material to his personal residence in Mar-a-Lago and, from there, on his plane to his Bedminster, New Jersey, estate.

Jack Smith, the special counsel who pursued criminal charges against Mr Trump, delivered a brief statement following the unsealing of the indictment of the former US President.

He said it was “very important” to him that “the defendants in this case, must be presumed innocent guilty in a court of law”.

“To that end, my office will seek a speedy trial in this matter, consistent with the public interest and the rights of the accused,” he added.

“I very much look forward to presenting our case.”

Mr Smith urged the public to read the full indictment against Mr Trump “to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged”.

He said that laws protecting national defence information “are critical” and “must be enforced”.

In his first comments after the federal indictment was unsealed, Mr Trump blasted Mr Smith in a post on Truth Social, calling him “deranged” and a “Trump Hater” who shouldn’t be involved in any case “having to do with ‘Justice’”.

Former US President Donald Trump is facing 37 counts on the federal indictment. Picture: AFP.

Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment against former President Donald Trump in Washington, DC. Picture: Getty Images via AFP.

TRUMP’S STUNNING ADMISSION CAUGHT ON TAPE

The 49-page document was unsealed hours after it was revealed Mr Trump had made the stunning admission that he retained “secret” military information he hadn’t declassified, in a bombshell audiotape believed to be at the heart of his indictment on federal charges.

“As president, I could have declassified, but now I can’t,” Mr Trump says, according to a transcript of the audio recording, published in part by CNN.

“Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this … This was done by the military and given to me.”

The news outlet reported on Friday that it had obtained the transcript of a portion of the 2021 meeting where Mr Trump is allegedly discussing a classified Pentagon document regarding a supposed attack on Iran.

In the audio recording, first obtained by prosecutors, Mr Trump states that he did not declassify the document he’s referencing, the outlet reports. That statement blatantly contradicts the former president’s claims that he declassified sensitive material he took to Mar-a-Lago.

I’ve had one of the darkest attitudes about Donald Trump from the very very beginning. I have cautioned since 2015 that he was utterly amoral.

The man for trade in this indictment is precisely who so many Republicans to this day pretended he was not .

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 9, 2023

Publicly, Mr Trump has claimed that all the documents he brought with him to his Florida residence were declassified, while he’s railed against the special counsel’s investigation as a political witch hunt attempting to interfere with his 2024 presidential campaign.

Mr Trump has been indicted on seven federal charges including the wilful retention of documents in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements, obstruction of justice and a count of conspiracy, according to his lawyer Jim Trusty – who resigned on Friday.

Though the precise details of the charges were not immediately clear because the indictment is sealed, people familiar with the matter told The New York Times the conspiracy charge was related to obstruction of justice.

Former US president Donald Trump said he has been indicted in the federal probe over his handling of classified documents after leaving office. Picture: AFP.

The seven charges carry a maximum 75-year prison sentence if found guilty on all counts.

On Friday, Walt Nauta, an aide to Mr Trump, was also indicted in the case, according to a post from the ex-president on social media.

“I have just learned that the ‘Thugs’ from the Department of Injustice will be Indicting a wonderful man, Walt Nauta, a member of the U.S. Navy, who served proudly with me in the White House, retired as Senior Chief, and then transitioned into private life as a personal aide,” Mr Trump, 76, wrote on Truth Social. “He has done a fantastic job! They are trying to destroy his life, like the lives of so many others, hoping that he will say bad things about ‘Trump.’ He is strong, brave, and a Great Patriot. The FBI and DOJ are CORRUPT!”

TRUMP TAPE: ‘I HAVE A BIG PILE OF PAPERS’

It was reported last week that prosecutors had procured the audio recording, which was made in 2021 at Mr Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, resort with two individuals working on the autobiography of the former US President’s final White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in addition to aides to the former president, such as Marco Martin, a communications staffer.

At the time of the audio recording, Mr Trump was complaining about the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley. The meeting took place not long after a story published by The New Yorker outlined how Gen Milley told the Joint Chiefs during the last days of Mr Trump’s time in office to make sure that the then-president not give any illegal orders and that Gen Milley should be made aware if there were any concerns.

“Well, with Milley – uh, let me see that, I’ll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn’t that amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him,” Mr Trump said, the transcript shows.

“They presented me this – this is off the record, but – they presented me this. This was him.”

Some of the documents allegedly seized at Mar-a-Lago and tendered to court as evidence. Picture: US Department of Justice/ AFP.

This was the Defence Department and him. We looked at some. This was him. This wasn’t done by me, this was him.”

“All sorts of stuff – pages long, look. Wait a minute, let’s see here. I just found, isn’t that amazing? This totally wins my case, you know. Except it is like, highly confidential. Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” Mr Trump added.

“Secret” and “confidential” are both degrees of classified information.

It comes after Mr Trump claimed the Biden Administration were corrupt.

“The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax,” Mr Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social on Thursday.

In his post about being indicted, Mr Trump, who is running for president again, said he has been summoned to a federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday.

“I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States,” he wrote.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Justice Department.

In a joint statement, two of Mr Trump’s lawyers Jim Trusty and John Rowley tendered their resignations on Friday.

“It has been an honour to have spent the last year defending him, and we know he will be vindicated in his battle against the Biden Administration’s partisan weaponization of the American justice system,” they said of Mr Trump.

“Now that the case has been filed in Miami, this is a logical moment for us to step aside and let others carry the cases through to completion. “We have no plans to hold media appearances that address our withdrawals or any other confidential communications we’ve had with the president or his legal team.”

Former US President Donald Trump has denied all the allegations and insisted he did nothing wrong. Picture: AFP.

Mr Trump confirmed he was shaking up his legal team and that Todd Blanche will now represent the former US president.

“For purposes of fighting the Greatest Witch Hunt of all time, now moving to the Florida Courts, I will be represented by Todd Blanche, Esq., and a firm to be named later,” Mr Trump said in a post on Friday, appointing the attorney who is already handling his Manhattan “hush money” case.

“I want to thank Jim Trusty and John Rowley for their work, but they were up against a very dishonest, corrupt, evil, and ‘sick’ group of people, the likes of which has not been seen before. We will be announcing additional lawyers in the coming days. When will Joe Biden be Indicted for his many crimes against our Nation? MAGA!”

Former US President Donald Trump has posted on social media, claiming he has been indicted over the “Boxes Hoax”. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump’s announcement came a day after US media said federal prosecutors have informed the former president’s lawyers that he is the target of the probe into his handling of classified documents.

He was already the first former or sitting president to be charged with a crime – over election-eve hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels who said she had an affair with him.

That indictment came down in March.

Special counsel Jack Smith, named by Attorney-General Merrick Garland, has been looking into a cache of classified documents that Mr Trump had stored at his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving the White House.

The FBI carted away some 11,000 papers after serving a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago in August. Mr Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

He could conceivably be indicted in yet two other cases – over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia and his role in inciting the Capitol mob attack in 2021.

Originally published as ‘This is secret information’: Donald Trump’s stunning admission on tape revealed amid indictment