Margaret Hartmann writes:

Audio recordings have landed Trump in hot water time and again — from the Access Hollywood tape to his “perfect” phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the recorded call in which he asked Georgia’s secretary of State to steal the 2020 election for him. Nevertheless, in July 2021, Trump agreed to let a publisher and writer working on his former chief of staff Mark Meadows’s book record their conversation, then proceeded to brag about how he had a highly classified document about Iran at his postpresidential residence in Bedminster, New Jersey.

A partial transcript of the exchange was included in the indictment against Trump, who is facing 37 felony charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. Now CNN has obtained new audio of the conversation, which is key to special counsel Jack Smith’s case. The recording was released on Monday evening:

Listen to audio from a 2021 meeting in Bedminster, New Jersey, that CNN has exclusively obtained, revealing former President Donald Trump discussing holding secret documents he did not declassify. https://t.co/yzhq9BzUKc pic.twitter.com/7zV0s3UPP6

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 27, 2023

Trump has finally produced the “perfect” audio clip — in a sense. This is truly a masterpiece of self-incrimination. [Continue reading…]