Donald Trump Audio Tape is 'Game, Set and Match' for Prosecution: Attorney

Donald Trump will be in serious legal peril if reports he was on tape admitting he had retained a classified document after he left the White House are accurate, a lawyer has said.

Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman was reacting to claims first reported by CNN that Special Counsel Jack Smith's office had obtained an audio recording of the former president saying that he was in possession of a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran.

The audio recording from July 2021 reportedly reveals Trump saying he could not show it to others at a meeting in Bedminster, New Jersey, because they did not have clearance to view the classified document and Trump no longer had the authority to declassify it.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 4, 2023. Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman suggested reports surrounding an audio tape of Trump discussing having a classified document could be "game, set and match" for him. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Trump has long denied any wrongdoing with regards to the investigation into the classified materials seized at his Mar-a-Lago resort in August 2022, including repeatedly making the disputed claim that he had declassified the material before he left office in January 2021. In September 2022, Trump claimed that he had the power as president to declassify top secret documents just "by thinking about it."

However, Trump's lawyers have never repeated the argument that the recovered materials had been declassified in any official court filings during the investigation, with the obtained audio clip suggesting Trump knew he did not declassify all the materials he was in possession of.

"An immediate pressing question is whether this document was among those later seized at Mar-a-Lago pursuant to the subpoena or the search warrant. My best guess is yes, because otherwise there would likely have been probable cause to search Bedminster and urgency to try," Litman tweeted.

An immediate pressing question is whether this document was among those later seized at Mar-a-Lago pursuant to the subpoena or the search warrant. My best guess is yes, because otherwise there would likely have been probable cause to search Bedminster and urgency to try. — Harry Litman (@harrylitman) May 31, 2023

"And from an evidentiary point of view, audio tape with Trump saying that he's limited in his ability to show classified documents is game, set and match as far as intent and guilty knowledge go," he added in another tweet. "Blows the various 'I am entitled' claims out of the water."

And from an evidentiary point of view, audio tape with Trump saying that he’s limited in his ability to show classified documents is game, set and match as far as intent and guilty knowledge go. Blows the various “I am entitled “ claims out of the water. — Harry Litman (@harrylitman) May 31, 2023

The Guardian, citing unnamed sources, also reported that Trump could be heard wishing that he had declassified the classified Iran document while he was in the White House at the meeting at his Bedminster golf resort in July 2021.

In a statement about the audio reports, a spokesperson for the former president said "leaks from radical partisans" are designed to "inflame tensions and continue the media's harassment" of Trump and his supporters.

A spokesperson for Trump told Newsweek that the "leaks" to the media are "more proof that when it comes to President Trump, there are absolutely no depths to which they will not sink as they pursue their witch hunts.

"The DOJ's continued interference in the presidential election is shameful and this meritless investigation should cease wasting the American taxpayer's money on Democrat political objectives."

The meeting in question involved Trump and people helping his former chief of staff Mark Meadows write his autobiography. Also president was Trump aide Margo Martin, who regularly taped conversations the former president had with authors to ensure his comments were reported accurately in the subsequent book.

The conversation about the classified document came after Trump was apparently irate about recent media reports that Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley had allegedly talked Trump down from attacking Iran in the final few days of his presidency.

Trump is alleged to have brought up a document he claims came from Milley and said that if he was allowed to show it to those at the meeting it would undermine what Milley was saying. While the sound of papers rustling is said to be heard in the audio recording, it is unclear if Trump was holding the document in question at the time.

Former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann also said that Trump would face charges if allegations the former president knew he couldn't show the classified materials he kept to other people are accurate.

"If this reporting is true, and I'm trying not to use hyperbole, this is game over," Weissmann told MSNBC. "There is no way that he will not be charged.

"One, it is a tape recording. Even though the reporting is there are also witnesses, so there could be a tape recording with witnesses, it involves not just possession of classified information, but the dissemination of classified information. That puts it into a completely different ballpark when you are at the Department of Justice examining the seriousness of the violation and whether to bring charges," Weismann added.