(NewsNation) — CNN and The New York Times have obtained audio tapes of former President Donald Trump discussing a “highly confidential” document he kept after leaving the White House.

Jesse Binnall, an attorney for Trump, says the tapes don’t prove any crimes, noting prosecutors haven’t charged Trump with retaining that particular document.

“So, the very fact that he may have said that, and if it was bluster, for instance, then there is no crime there,” Binnall said Tuesday on “CUOMO.” “That is, I think, one of the most important things, is if he’s looking at building plans or something and rustling around papers, there’s no offense there.”

The recording, which was referred to in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s indictment but wasn’t released publicly until being aired by CNN on Monday, features a conversation between Trump and a writer and publisher at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey in July 2021. The conversation was part of Smith’s 37-count indictment against the former president over Trump’s handling of classified materials.

Trump can be heard discussing an apparent Pentagon document about plans to attack Iran, acknowledging it is “highly confidential” and “secret information.” Trump said Monday the recording exonerates him.

The recording appears to show that he was aware of how classification works but still retained national defense information.

“See, as president I could have declassified it,” the former president said in the recording. “Now I can’t.”

Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, says the tape is “problematic” for Trump.

“What I hear someone saying that he’s got a highly confidential secret document and he is showing that to somebody who isn’t supposed to have access to it,” Mariotti said of the recording. “I think (it’s) going to be used … by the prosecutor to suggest that the defenses that Trump is relying on are not valid.”

Trump has claimed that he had the ability to declassify any documents he wanted as president and that he had a right to keep the documents after he left the White House.

On Tuesday, Trump told the news outlet Semafor and ABC News that his actions and words in the Bedminster meeting were merely “bravado” and that the “plans” he referred to in a Fox News interview last week were building plans.

“Did I use the word plans?” Trump told Semafor. “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.”

Either way, Binnall argued the burden will be on prosecutors to prove that Trump intended to harm the United States by keeping the documents.

“There’s absolutely no evidence that President Trump has ever tried to harm the United States,” Binnall said.

Trump is charged with the willful retention of national defense information, part of the Espionage Act.

“The problem for the former president is this document goes to his state of mind, and it’s going to be admitted at trial,” Mariotti said. “There’s a reason it’s mentioned in the indictment.”

When a trial arrives, Binnall says there’s only one person best suited to explain Trump’s state of mind: himself.

“As far as him getting on the stand and testifying, I would recommend him to do that,” Binnall said. “I think if Donald Trump gets up there and talks to the jury and explains what happened in this case, that he’s a winner, and he’s going to walk out of the courtroom exonerated yet again.”

The Hill contributed to this report.