Pratt executive is figure in security investigation

The global chairman of recycled-content containerboard producers Visy, based in Australia, and United States-based Pratt Industries reportedly received and repeated potentially classified information about U.S submarines passed along to him by former President Donald Trump.

Several global media outlets have reported that the investigation into the former president’s handling of classified information at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida has included testimony from witnesses who overheard a conversation between Trump and Anthony Pratt.

The U.S.-based ABC News website says a former Mar-a-Lago employee claims to have overheard Trump not only advocating for Australia to buy U.S.-designed submarines, but providing details about their weapons-bearing and stealth capabilities that could be considered classified.

ABC News, CNN and other media outlets report that after that alleged April 2021 conversation, Pratt repeated the story numerous times.

Citing confidential sources, ABC says investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) allegedly have determined that Pratt “described Trump’s remarks to at least 45 others, including six journalists, 11 of his company’s employees, 10 Australian officials and three former Australian prime ministers.”

ABC News writes, citing its anonymous sources, “Pratt told investigators Trump didn’t show him any government documents during their April 2021 meeting, nor at any other time they crossed paths at Mar-a-Lago.”

Subsequently, Australia has agreed to purchase submarines from an American and British consortium, in a deal finalized during the current Joe Biden administration. The decision by Australia involved canceling an earlier agreement that would have had the nation buying French-designed submarines.  

Pratt, an Australian citizen, has invested heavily in the U.S. while building up recycled-content containerboard and packaging producer Pratt Industries, based in Conyers, Georgia.

“America’s been very good to us, and we’re very grateful for the generosity of America,” Pratt said during a 2017 interview with Fox News, “We have tremendous faith in President Trump; he’s creating jobs [and] he’s supporting manufacturing, and that’s why we’re doubling down on our investment in America.”

According to ABC News, “Shortly after Trump became president in 2017, Pratt joined Mar-a-Lago as a member and publicly pledged to invest another $2 billion in American manufacturing jobs.”