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Washington: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared he was never told by Australian businessman Anthony Pratt about sensitive nuclear submarine information that former president Donald Trump allegedly shared in an alleged risk to national security.
But Albanese has refused to weigh into the scandal engulfing the billionaire packaging tycoon, telling reporters in Washington ahead of a dinner with President Joe Biden, he wasn’t “going to comment on US internal politics”.
Anthony Pratt, former prime minister Kevin Rudd and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ahead of the unveiling of the official portrait of former PM Kevin Rudd, at Parliament House in Canberra in August.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The response comes after a joint investigation by this masthead and 60 Minutes uncovered separate audio recordings of Pratt talking about his relationship with “mafia”-like Donald Trump and his claim of a $US1 million payment to Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
The covert recordings also reveal that Pratt had claimed Trump disclosed non-public details about US military action in Iraq and a private conversation with Iraq’s leader.
Trump has dismissed those accounts, posting on social media that the stories “about a red haired weirdo from Australia, named Anthony Pratt, is Fake News.”
Donald Trump and Anthony Pratt with Scott Morrison in Ohio in 2019.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
However, the investigation substantiated previous reporting from America’s ABC News that suggested Trump shared more classified information than was previously known, and that Pratt – who is a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort – had divulged that information with scores of people, including former prime ministers and journalists.
Asked if he was ever briefed by Pratt about the discussions he allegedly had with Trump, Albanese replied: “No.”
Pressed on whether he was concerned about the alleged activities involving Pratt, he simply answered: “I’m not going to comment on us internal politics.”
With Trump set to face trial over his handling of classified documents, Pratt is now among more than 80 people that prosecutors have identified as possible witnesses who could testify against the former president.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Resources Madeleine King during a press conference in Washington DC on Tuesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
But as the chief executive of Visy Industries and Pratt Industries, he is also one of Australia’s most prominent business figures, so the headlines surrounding him at a time when Albanese is in the US for a state dinner have proven somewhat delicate.
The last state dinner for an Australian leader at the White House was held four years ago when then prime minister Scott Morrison and his wife, Jenny, joined Trump and his wife, Melania, at a head table that also included Pratt, News Corp executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch and golfer Greg Norman.
This year, however, Pratt is not expected to attend Wednesday’s event, according to a source familiar with this week’s plans, who was not authorised to speak publicly.
The Australian businessman has kept a low profile lately, but in September appeared in Kentucky alongside Ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, and Ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, where Pratt Industries opened a new a paper recycling plant. In a tweet at the time, Rudd applauded the business for “kicking goals” in the US.
The charges Trump faces over classified documents relate to material the former president took after leaving the White House in 2021 and which were stored in boxes all over his Mar-a-Lago resort, including “in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room”.
They included information relating to nuclear programs and military vulnerabilities, to intelligence that should have only been shared with the intelligence heads of the Five Eyes” countries, including Australia.
But they are not the only charges the former president faces as he seeks the Republican nomination to run for office again next year.
Trump is also facing a trial in Washington for attempting to overthrow the 2020 election results, a trial in Georgia for election subversion in that state, and a trial in New York over hush money payments paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.
For the past few weeks, however, he has been preoccupied with a civil fraud trial in Manhattan, which could ultimately seal the fate of his real estate empire.
In that case, New York Attorney-General Letitia James has accused Trump, his sons and their family business of fraudulently inflating the value of his properties to get better loan terms and lower insurance premiums.
Trump’s former attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen backed up this allegation on Tuesday (US time) testifying that he and former Trump Organisation chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg would manipulate financial statements based on what Trump wanted his net worth to reflect.
Trump, however, rejected this, saying outside court that Cohen – who went to jail in 2018 for campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other things – was a “felon” and “proven liar”.
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