Trump says Reporters Confused Golf Course Plans With War Plans, It Was All Just A Goof On His Part

As has been noted by many, Donald Trump has the right to remain silent, he just doesn’t have the ability and no, apparently he does not understand that anything he says can and will be held against him in a court of law. And nobody who works for him can make him understand that, apparently.

His gaffe du jour is to tell a reporter that there was no document, let alone a top secret one, but that silly journalists have confused a golf course plan with a government paper. Or something. Semafor:

“Did I use the word plans?” he said. “What I’m referring to is magazines, newspapers, plans of buildings. I had plans of buildings. You know, building plans? I had plans of a golf course.”

Asked if he had any regrets about his handling of classified documents, Trump said he did not.

“No, I have no regrets,” he said. “I didn’t have a classified document. There was no classified document on my desk.”

Now there was something on his desk that he thought was a classified document, because the CNN audio quotes him as saying, “I could have declassified that when I was president.”

Here he’s quoted saying in plain English that the document is classified.

Was listening to the tape again for a story and realized that the part in red below — muffled by cross-talk — often isn't included in transcripts. pic.twitter.com/rVa5aPYL08

— Philip Bump (@pbump) June 28, 2023

Trump also used the word “bravado” and mentioned that he was just playing around, using colorful language. It was all a goof, in other words.

The only problem with that, is that “bravado” is not a legal defense. Or, maybe it is. Let’s check back with Alina Habba or Christina Bobb later today and see what case law and treatises they’ve found on the doctrine of presidential bravado. I, for one, can’t wait.

National security attorney Bradley Moss told Semafor that a “bravado” defense, in which Trump claimed he was exaggerating the importance of papers that were not actually classified, could be a difficult sell in court.

“One, they’re not charging him with retaining that document,” he said in a text message. “Two, the relevance of the comments in the audio are they speak to Trump’s intent and awareness of the limitations on his ability to have and share classified records. And three, I have no reason to believe Smith would have included this issue without getting clarifying testimony from the various witnesses.” […]

“I would say it was bravado, if you want to know the truth, it was bravado,” Trump said in an interview aboard his plane with Semafor and ABC News. “I was talking and just holding up papers and talking about them, but I had no documents. I didn’t have any documents.”

What’s that you say? He sounds nervous as hell? It would be gratifying to think he had enough sense to be nervous. Because God knows he’s got every reason to be.

At some point, Trump’s lawyers either need to quit or demand he stop talking.

His latest excuse about the audiotape/docs is the least plausible yet. It’s contrived out of whole cloth…and it’s obviously untrue. The people who were in the room won’t tell this lie on the stand. https://t.co/zD1UtYgsyV

— Jay Town (@JayTownAlabama) June 28, 2023

Or will they? It’s always interesting to speculate who will go to prison for Donald Trump.