Former President Trump allegedly discussed classified information about U.S. nuclear submarine capabilities with an Australian billionaire at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago club after he left office, ABC News reported Thursday.
The billionaire then passed the classified information on to others, who reported the disclosures to federal special counsel Jack Smith, according to reports.
Trump allegedly discussed the submarines with billionaire Anthony Pratt in early 2021, disclosing classified information about how many nuclear armaments they carry and how close they can travel to Russian submarines without being detected.
ABC News reported that Pratt later shared that information with more than a dozen foreign officials, several of his own employees, and multiple journalists. The FBI and Department of Justice prosecutors have questioned Pratt about the information at least twice.
Smith charged Trump with illegally holding classified documents at the Mar-a-Lago property in June, alleging that he hid them from Department of Justice investigators. That case is scheduled to go to trial in May.
That case does not include mention of the alleged disclosures to Pratt.
According to those Pratt mentioned the conversation to, Trump told Pratt that Australia should purchase U.S. submarines, then disclosed the classified information while “leaning” toward him, as if to be discreet. He told a total of 45 people about the interaction, ABC News reported.
After months of negotiations, the Biden administration agreed to sell at least three nuclear-powered submarines to Australia in addition to training and other aid in a three-country defense agreement with the U.K. in March. Those submarines will not carry nuclear weapons.