That's a quote from the tape CNN played last night as an exclusive. It's Trump, at Bedminster, talking about one of the documents that proves his case. What case--does it absolve him of the Russia Hoax or the first impeachment?
Nah. Just a pissing contest he's having in his own mind with chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, FGen Mark Milley.
That audio comes from open pissing and moaning about, among other things, Trump's need to be right, and a discussion about how, supposedly, Hillary Clinton handled secret documents. "Please print" was a joke between Trump and a suck-up aide of his that can be heard on the tape. Irony of ironies: he knows having this stuff printed out is wrong, and here he is, with the actual paper in his hand.
He knows it's not declassified--he said so. He knows it's wrong to have it. He knows he can't declassify it right now. And he's surrounded by people who seem not at all shocked that he's discussing his post-presidency "beautiful mind paper" with others, because, one can begin to imagine, this is hardly the first time.
Now, Trump can fuss that this is some kind of leak from the Smith investigation, but keep in mind that as with the "Clinton socks tapes" that he also wants to rant about, the tape CNN has isn't itself classified or anything. He made that in front of the writers doing a biography on Mark Meadows (the same way that the sock drawer tapes were between Bill Clinton and historian Taylor Branch.). He can complain that what was played was very selective--but that's because it was the news part of the tape, in the way one takes note of a break-in on a security tape, and not the hours of nothing happening previously.
It's probably not the only damning thing Smith has on him anyway. After all, he's got interviews with witnesses and so on (just like he has spoken with witnesses, like Secret Service people, and the fake electors) regarding 1/6.
And then there's the issue of his continuing to use what he's done to possibly enrich himself--we all know he continued to raise money on the "stolen election" even knowing it wasn't stolen, and diverting no money towards any sort of legal action over it (because there was no legal remedy to be had). But it appears he's using 2024 campaign donations to pay for his legal bills now, as well.
I know right? What is he supposed to do, pay his legal bills with his own money? But I digress,
He's not supposed to be doing any of this! And yet, I don't expect even the flagrancy of what's on the tape to necessarily affect his fan club--they are too far gone. But real cases aren't tried in the case of public opinion, and Trump's guilt or innocence doesn't come down to winning over all Trump's fans. The bare facts--as expressed by Trump himself. are damning.
(I still wonder why no search happened at Bedminster, though. That's where he had the papers he was rifling through.)
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