Trump loathed Milley's positive coverage in the press and that led him to be cavalier about what he said about the general, veering close to classified material in conversations, sources said.
www.cbsnews.com
And when people came by to hear Trump talk about his presidency —and often rant about Milley— Trump aides would also record the conversations, in case they ever wanted to contest what was later written.
This practice was followed when ghostwriters for Trump's former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows stopped by. The
audio from that July 2021 conversationat Trump's club in Bedminster, N.J., includes remarks related to Iran and how to confront it militarily, two people with knowledge of the case said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The indictment makes reference to a July 2021 "audio-recorded meeting" with "a writer, a publisher and two members of [Trump's] staff, none of whom possessed a security clearance," during which Trump showed them a "plan of attack" prepared for him by "the Defense Department and a senior military official."
He told them, according to the indictment, "the plan was 'highly confidential' and 'secret'" and added, "'as president, I could have declassified it,' and 'Now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret.'"
Attorneys for Trump informed the Justice Department that they've not been able to locate a classified document related to Iran sought by investigators
that was discussed during a recorded meeting, two people with knowledge of the case confirmed to CBS News.
One person said it's not clear if the document with the "plan of attack" exists, or if Trump was misidentifying something to those assembled for the meeting, but said prosecutors have the tape.
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