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Trump Discussed ‘Highly Confidential’ Document in Audio Recording

An audio recording obtained by news organizations reveals U.S. President Donald Trump discussing secret documents about a plan to attack Iran as he spoke to a writer after leaving office in 2021. 

Federal prosecutors cited parts of the conversation in an indictment last month on charges that he illegally retained classified government documents and then conspired to obstruct a federal investigation. 

CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times released the audio clip Monday in which Trump references reports that Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley feared Trump would manufacture a conflict with Iran after losing the 2020 presidential election. 

“With Milley, let me see that, I”ll show you an example,” Trump says in the recording, which includes the sound of shuffling papers. “He said that I wanted to attack Iran.  Isn’t it amazing? I have a big pile of papers; this thing just came up.  Look, this was him, they presented me this. This is off the record, but they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him.” 

“This totally wins my case, you know?” Trump says. “Except it is, like, highly confidential, secret. This is secret information.” 

Trump later says, “See, as president I could have declassified it, now I can’t.”  

The former president has said he had a “standing order” to declassify all documents taken from the Oval Office to the White House residence.  He pleaded not guilty in a June court appearance. 
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Supreme Court Unfreezes Louisiana Redistricting Case that Could Boost Power of Black Voters

The Supreme Court on Monday lifted its hold on a Louisiana case that could force the state to redraw congressional districts to boost Black voting power. 

The order follows the court’s rejection earlier in June of a congressional redistricting map in Alabama and unfreezes the Louisiana case, which had been on hold pending the decision in Alabama. 

In both states, Black voters are a majority in just one congressional district. Lower courts had ruled that the maps raised concerns that Black voting power had been diluted, in violation of the landmark federal Voting Rights Act. 

About a third of Louisiana’s residents are Black. More than one in four Alabamians are Black. 

The justices put the Louisiana case on hold and allowed the state’s challenged map to be used in last year’s elections after they agreed to hear the Alabama case. 

The case had separately been appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The justices said that appeal now could go forward in advance of next year’s congressional elections. 
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US Supreme Court to Rule On Gay Rights, Religious Freedom, Other Heated Issues

The Supreme Court is getting ready to decide some of its biggest cases of the term. The high court has 10 opinions left to release over the next week before the justices begin their summer break. As is typical, the last opinions to be released cover some of the most contentious issues the court has wrestled with this term including affirmative action, student loans and gay rights. 

Here’s a look at some of the cases the court has left to decide from the term that began back in October: 

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION  

The survival of affirmative action in higher education is the subject of two related cases, one involving Harvard and the other the University of North Carolina. The Supreme Court has previously approved of the use of affirmative action in higher education in decisions reaching back to 1978. But the justices’ decision to take the cases suggested a willingness to revisit those rulings. And when the high court heard arguments in the cases in late October, all six conservative justices on the court expressed doubts about the practice. 

The Biden administration has said that getting rid of race-conscious college admissions would have a “destabilizing” effect that would cause the ranks of Black and Latino students to plummet at the nation’s most selective schools. 

STUDENT LOANS  

The justices will also decide the fate of President Joe Biden’s plan to wipe away or reduce student loans held by millions of Americans. When the court heard arguments in the case in February, the plan didn’t seem likely to survive, though it’s possible the justices could decide the challengers lacked the right to sue and the plan can still go forward. 

Biden had proposed erasing $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those with incomes below $125,000 a year, or households that earn less than $250,000. He also wanted to cancel an additional $10,000 for those who received federal Pell Grants to attend college. The administration has said millions of borrowers would benefit from the program. 

Regardless of what happens at the high court, loan payments that have been on hold since the start of the coronavirus pandemic three years ago will resume this summer. 

Information in this article is confirmed with other sources and may be used without attribution to The Associated Press in broadcasts — websites still must use the attribution. The News Center has no plans currently to match it. 

GAY RIGHTS  

A clash of gay rights and religious rights is also yet to be decided by the court. The case involves a Christian graphic artist from Colorado who wants to begin designing wedding websites but objects to making wedding websites for same-sex couples. 

State law requires businesses that are open to the public to provide services to all customers, but the designer, Lorie Smith, says the law violates her free speech rights. 

She says ruling against her would force artists — from painters and photographers to writers and musicians — to do work that is against their beliefs. Her opponents, meanwhile, say that if she wins, a range of businesses will be able to discriminate, refusing to serve Black, Jewish or Muslim customers, interracial or interfaith couples or immigrants. 

During arguments in the case in December, the court’s conservative majority sounded sympathetic to Smith’s arguments, and religious plaintiffs have in recent years won a series of victories at the high court. 

RELIGIOUS RIGHTS  

Another case that could end as a victory for religious rights is the case of a Christian mail carrier who refused to work on Sundays when he was required to deliver Amazon packages. 

The question for the high court has to do with when businesses have to accommodate religious employees. The case is somewhat unusual in that both sides agree on several things, and when the court heard arguments in April both liberal and conservative justices seemed in broad agreement that businesses like the Postal Service can’t cite minor costs or hardships to reject requests to accommodate religious practices. That could mean a ruling joined by both liberals and conservatives. 

Less clear, however, was how the justices might decide the particular worker’s case. 

VOTING  

As election season accelerates, the Supreme Court has still not said what it will do in a case about the power of state legislatures to make rules for congressional and presidential elections without being checked by state courts. 

In a case out of North Carolina the justices were asked to essentially eliminate the power of state courts to strike down congressional districts drawn by legislatures on the grounds that they violate state constitutions. 

But there’s a wrinkle. Since the justices heard arguments in the case in December, North Carolina’s state Supreme Court threw out the ruling the Supreme Court was reviewing after Republicans claimed control of that court. That could give the justices an out and let them dismiss the case without reaching a decision. 

The high court could still take up a similar case from Ohio and reach a decision there, but it wouldn’t be until after the 2024 elections. 
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