No admission in former President Richard Nixon's Watergate tapes was "as clearly illegal" as that of Donald Trump in audio first published by CNN where the latter describes having "highly confidential" papers in his possession, a leading historian of the period has said.
The audio, in which Trump appeared to admit some of the documents in his possession hadn't been declassified, was published on Monday. In response, a Trump campaign spokesperson said the former president had been "speaking rhetorically and also quite humorously," and hadn't committed any wrongdoing.
Earlier this month, Trump was charged with 37 counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents, to which he pleaded not guilty. Trump's legal woes, which include charges in New York regarding the alleged payment of hush money to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels, could have a significant impact on the 2024 presidential election, with polling indicating the ex-president is the Republican frontrunner. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing, including rejecting allegations of an affair with Daniels.
In the audio recording, which was referenced in Trump's indictment, the former president appears to discuss classified documents with a staff member and a writer, who was helping former White House chief-of-staff Mark Meadows with research for his memoir.
In the conversation, which Trump knew was being recorded, the former president said: "These are the papers. This was done by the military and given to me. See, as president, I could have declassified it. Now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret."
Reacting on Twitter, Garrett M. Graff, author of Watergate: A New History, commented: "Speaking as a Watergate historian, there's nowhere on thousands of hours of Nixon tapes where Nixon makes any comment as clear, as clearly illegal, and as clearly self-aware as this Trump tape."
Speaking as a Watergate historian, there’s nowhere on thousands of hours of Nixon tapes where Nixon makes any comment as clear, as clearly illegal, and as clearly self-aware as this Trump tape. https://t.co/JFqyfcQb8g
— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) June 27, 2023
From February 1971 then President Richard Nixon began secretly taping White House meetings and phone conversations, some relating to the Watergate scandal. His initial refusal to hand these over, following a subpoena from the Justice Committee, contributed to an unsuccessful attempt to impeach Nixon, but eventually, his resignation from office.
In a statement sent to Newsweek, the Trump campaign responded to the audio leaks, commenting: "The audio tape provides context proving, once again, that President Trump did nothing wrong at all.
"The President is speaking rhetorically and also quite humorously... The media and the Trump-haters once again were all too willing to take the bait, falling for another Democrat-DOJ hoax, hook, line, and sinker."
Trump wrote on his Truth Social website: "The Deranged Special Prosecutor, Jack Smith, working in conjunction with the DOJ & FBI, illegally leaked and 'spun' a tape and transcript of me which is actually an exoneration, rather than what they would have you believe. This continuing Witch Hunt is another ELECTION INTERFERENCE Scam. They are cheaters and thugs!"
The former president did not provide evidence to support his claim that the audio was leaked by Smith, the Department of Justice, or the FBI.
Uncommon Knowledge
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James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world ... Read more
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