(VitalNews.org) – Stephanie Grisham, a former press secretary for the White House, claims that she witnessed former President Donald Trump flaunting classified documents to guests at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
In an MSNBC interview, Grisham says she watched the former president “show documents to people” at his Florida home “on the dining room patio.” Trump “has no respect for classified information,” she said, and that he “never did.” Between July 2019 and April 2020, Grisham served as chief spokesperson for Trump.
Trump was hit with 37 counts, to which he pleaded not guilty, relating to the alleged mishandling of documents deemed classified as well as for trying to impede the government from recovering the documents.
One piece of evidence featured during the federal indictment brought against Trump is a transcript of an audio clip recorded during a meeting that took place in July 2021 at Trump’s golf club in New Jersey. The clip implies the former president was showing off a classified document from the Pentagon that he took with him after leaving the White House.
Trump responded to the recording, which was aired by CNN, claiming he wasn’t actually holding the document referenced in the recording, which he said technically exonerated him.
Trump described his conduct in the recording as “bravado,” claiming he was “holding up papers and talking about them” but didn’t have the documents in hand that were discussed. He can be heard on the recording talking about “secret information” with a book publisher and author who were working on a memoir for Mark Meadows, former chief of staff for the White House.
President Joe Biden, who defeated Trump in the 2020 election and may face off with him again in 2024, is also facing questions of mishandling classified documents after multiple batches were found in his Delaware residence earlier this year.
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