Harold Hutchison on June 27, 2023
An attorney for former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the Justice Department leaked a tape of Trump discussing an allegedly classified document to CNN.
“Here’s the good news, we know who leaked it and that’s the DOJ, because I didn’t have it. The DOJ did. They keep everything close to their chest until they realize they’re losing … so then they leak something and tell the American people, ‘listen to what he said,’” Alina Habba told “Fox News Tonight” host Lawrence Jones. “Well, let’s think about what he said. He said what the presidential record act says. The president has the right to declassify documents. Who doesn’t? A non-president. A senator like Joe Biden when he had classified documents and took them out 40 years ago, 30 years ago and had no right to do it.”
CNN aired a two-minute audio tape of Trump Monday, during which he discussed his ability to declassify documents with unidentified people. During the conversation, Trump joked with the attendees about the private email server that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had in her Westchester, New York home.
WATCH:
Trump was arraigned June 13 in Miami after Special Counsel Jack Smith secured a grand jury indictment on 37 counts, including violations of the Espionage Act, that was unsealed June 9.
“I can tell you who hasn’t done any leaks and who has been listening to everything the judge said and that’s Donald Trump. President Trump was told by a judge he can’t talk about any of the evidence, so explain to me how then, evidence is being leaked the week that Hunter Biden is getting indicted … misdemeanor charges for things that he should have been going to jail for, let’s be honest and if it was a Trumper, would have gone to jail for, but nobody talks about that,” Habba said.
“What do they want to talk about? ‘Trump, Trump, Trump, submarine,’ oh, I know, release a tape. Release a tape saying what? The presidential record act allows a president to declassify documents,” Habba said. “He is the only person who has the power to single-handedly do that. That’s what the tape says.”
Jones asked Habba if the Trump team had discussed the leak with the judge. Habba declined to comment on that, saying any contact would be “privileged at this point,” but did comment when Jones expressed his hope that there would be consequences for the leak.
“There better be some consequences,” Habba said.
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