Fresh off his second arraignment since April, Donald Trump on Tuesday night tried to explain why he allegedly kept classified documents after leaving office—yet in doing so, admitted to one of the several charges he faces, according to former FBI general counsel and MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissmann. Speaking from his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, Trump insisted he had “every right” to have those documents. Yet Weissman told MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell that that wasn’t the defense Trump may believe it to be. “One thing it’s important for everyone to know is [that] those statements that you just played are admissible as admissions, regardless of whether Donald Trump takes the stand or not,” Weissmann said, adding, “Part of what he said is just a straight-out confession. It’s not a defense. It’s a confession.” He explained further: “When you are charged with the illegal retention—the illegal possession of the documents—it is not a good idea to say, ‘Hey, you want to know why I took these? Because I could.’ That is not a defense to that charge. That is an admission to the charge.” Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 charges related to the classified documents stashed at Mar-a-Lago.
