Trump believed classified documents stored in Mar-a-Lago were his ‘prison escape card’, says Michael Cohen

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A composite image of Michael Cohen (left) and former President Donald Trump (right).

A composite image of Michael Cohen (left) and former President Donald Trump (right).Getty Images

  • Michael Cohen said Donald Trump viewed the documents kept in Mar-a-Lago as his “prison escape card.”

  • talk salonCohen suggested that Trump could take advantage of having classified information on US national security.

  • Cohen said the former president could threaten to hand over information to foreign adversaries.

Michael Cohen said former President Donald Trump saw classified documents stored in Mar-a-Lago as cards to “break out of prison.” salon magazine in an interview.

“He’s only interested in one thing: an escape card from prison,” Cohen said. “And that’s exactly what he saw in those documents.”

Cohen, who was once Trump’s personal attorney and corrector, suggested in a Salon interview that Trump thinks he might be able to exploit the confidentiality of these documents to his own advantage.

Imagine what Trump would say, Cohen said. To jail me. See what happens.

“What if he hands over all this classified information as if he hadn’t already done so? He turns over all this classified information to our enemies, right? ‘You want to play that game?’ No problem!'”

In August, Cohen made a similar point. CNN interviewHe said Trump would use the documents as a “bargaining chip” to get out of trouble.

“The moment they handcuffed him, he turned around and said, ‘I have a document that says, for example, where our nuclear launch pad is,'” Cohen said.

He went on to claim that Trump would release the information to “Russia, Iran, whoever it is.”

Mar-a-Lago

Mar-A-Lago was filmed on August 16, 2022, a week after the FBI raided former President Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Florida, USA.Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The Washington Post reported FBI agents were looking for classified documents about nuclear weapons during the Mar-a-Lago raid in August. It is not clear what they are referring to.

Cohen isn’t the only person to suggest that Trump may have kept classified documents for his own benefit. last month, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine He also explained that he believes Trump could use classified information as a “jailbreak card.”

according to New York Times, Trump has already floated the idea of ​​using classified documents as bargaining chips. Trump suggested to his advisers last year that he return the box of materials from Mar-a-Lago to the National Archives and Records Administration.Exchange of “confidential” documents In an FBI investigation into his 2016 campaign and his ties to Russia, the paper said.

According to The Times, the former president’s aide did not pass the proposal.

An insider did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Trump’s post-presidential office.

Read the original article at business insider



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