Following a new CNN report about an audio recording that suggests former President Donald Trump knowingly took a classified document, legal experts are saying it could be the damning evidence needed to charge him under the Espionage Act.
CNN reported Wednesday that several sources told the outlet about a recording obtained by federal prosecutors in which Trump acknowledged he had taken a classified document that detailed a potential attack on Iran. The recording included Trump saying he was not sure he was able to declassify records after leaving the presidency, two sources said. The New York Times and CBS News have also confirmed the existence of the recording.
CNN said had not listened to the recording but was told about it by sources who called it an "important" piece of evidence. The sources said Jack Smith, the special counsel leading the Justice Department's investigations into Trump, has focused on the summer 2021 meeting in which the audio recording was taken.
Trump, whose Mar-A-Lago resort and residence were searched by the FBI in August, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and insisted all the documents recovered were "automatically" declassified. According to court documents, the raid turned up many records that retained classified markings, including some that were labeled "top secret." CNN reported the recording undercuts Trump's claim that he believed the documents were declassified.
The Department of Justice is investigating if Trump broke several laws, including the Espionage Act, which prohibits the sharing of information that could harm the US or give an advantage to foreign countries. The act is concerned with the "gathering, transmitting or losing defense information," including any national defense document that was "illegally removed from its proper place of custody ... to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed."
In a statement provided to Insider, a spokesperson for Trump accused the Justice Department of interfering in the 2024 election and said: "Leaks from radical partisans behind this political persecution are designed to inflame tensions and continue the media's harassment of President Trump and his supporters."
"This is absolutely blockbuster evidence," Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, wrote on Twitter of the reported audio. "It proves that Trump *knew* he kept highly classified documents after he left office, that he shared the classified info with people who didn't have clearance, and 'suggests . he was aware of limitations' on his ability to declassify."
Peter Strzok, a former FBI agent, also said the audio as described would be "huge" in justifying an espionage charge by filling in essential gaps, including that the alleged audio could potentially show that Trump knew about declassifying procedures, knew he hadn't done it, and potentially told an unauthorized person about the document.
"Make no mistake. This is squarely an Espionage Act case. It is not simply an 'obstruction' case," Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University with expertise in national security, wrote on Twitter, adding, "There is now every reason to expect former President Trump will be charged" under the Espionage Act.
"The law fits his reported conduct like a hand in glove," Goodman said.
Richard W. Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, also said it was a "clear violation of the Espionage Act," adding the "DOJ has no choice but to indict Trump."