A prosecution witness in Trump’s classified documents case said that Anthony Pratt, an Australian billionaire and member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, claimed that Trump told Pratt about private calls with the leaders of Ukraine and Iraq. So an example of He Said She Said. Or is it?
“The reports from The New York Times and “60 Minutes Australia” revealed previously unknown recordings of Pratt candidly recalling his conversations with Trump – and build on existing allegations that Trump overshared sensitive government material,” CNN reported.
Speaking candidly on the tapes, Pratt accuses Trump of sharing insider information from sensitive phone calls with world leaders. Pratt was also critical of Trump’s character. So, it’s on tape – but recorded or not, it’s still He Said She Said.
Anthony Pratt expected to be a witness
Previously, Pratt spoke with special counsel Jack Smith, who has charged Trump with mishandling sensitive national security materials. Smith is expected to call on Pratt as a witness in the trial, which is slated to begin next May.
“Concerns about Trump’s freewheeling approach too state secrets are at the center of that case,” CNN reported. “Past reports from ABC News said Trump discussed potentially sensitive information with Pratt about US nuclear submarines. The new reports Sunday expand what is known about Pratt’s recounting of their conversations to include foreign policy matters.”
In on recording, made public on Sunday, Pratt recalled a conversation with Trump about Iraq. “It hadn’t even been on the news yet, and [Trump] said, ‘I just bombed Iraq today.”
Pratt also recounted details of a Trump phone call with Iraqi President Barham Salih, which took place in December of 2019. As Pratt tells it, Trump said: “The President of Iraq called me up and said, ‘You just leveled my city…I said to him, ‘OK, what are you going to do about it?’”
Pratt also said that he spoke with Trump about Trump’s September 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – the one that became foundational to Trump’s first impeachment; the one where Trump allegedly pressured Zelensky to launch corruption probes against Biden in the hopes of swaying the 2020 election.
“That was nothing compared to what I usually do,” Pratt said Trump said about the Zelensky call. “That’s nothing compared to what we usually talk about.”
Trump responds
Initially, Trump didn’t deny the conversations that Pratt details in the recordings. Rather, a spokesperson for Trump said that Pratt’s allegations “lack proper context.” Trump also pointed out that Pratt is “from a friendly country in Australia, one of our great allies,” for what it’s worth.
But Trump recently took to Truth Social to deny the allegations.
“The Failing New York Times story…about ar ed haired weirdo from Australia, named Anthony Pratt, is Fake News,” Trump posted. “I never spoke to him about Submarines but I did speak to him about creating jobs in Ohio and Pennsylvania, because that’s what I’m all about – JOBS, A GREAT ECONOMY, LOW TAXES, NO INFLATION, ENERGY, DOMINANCE, STRONG BORDER, NO ENDLESS WARS, LOW INTEREST RATES, and much more!”
“These latest disclosures could be used by Smith’s prosecutors as evidence that Trump had a pattern of sharing sensitive government information with unauthorized people, including political donors and well-connected businessmen in his orbit,” CNN reported. “It’s unclear whether prosecutors already had possession of the tapes that were made public on Sunday.”
Pratt commented on Trump’s character
The media is also seizing on Pratt’s assessment of Trump’s character. Trump “says outrageous things nonstop,” according to Pratt, who also compared Trump’s business practices to “the mafia.”
“He’s outrageous,” Pratt said. “He Just says whatever the **** he wants. And he loves to shock people.”
“He knows exactly what to say – and what not to say – so that he avoids jail. But gets so close to it that it looks to everyone like he’s breaking the law,” Pratt said.
Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor and opinion writer at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
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