Trump, Cohen camps tussle over tape
Donald Trump appeared familiar with a deal that a Playboy model made to sell the rights to her story of an alleged affair with him when Trump discussed the matter in September 2016 with his lawyer Michael Cohen, according to a transcript of their conversation.
The transcript, which was provided by President Trump’s legal team, shows that the then-GOP presidential nominee does not register confusion or surprise when Cohen references a plan to purchase the rights to model Karen McDougal’s story from American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer.
AMI, whose chief executive is David Pecker, had signed a US$150,000 deal with McDougal in August 2016 for her story, but never published it.
“Um, I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David,” Cohen says, according to the transcript.
“So what do you got to pay for this . . . one fifty . . .” Trump says. “Yes,” Cohen replies. “Um, and it’s all the stuff.”
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani disputed the idea that the recording shows that Trump knew about the McDougal deal. “It doesn’t,” he said. “That’s open to interpretation and we can have a fight about that. To me it sounds like Cohen is explaining something to [Trump] that he doesn’t understand. He doesn’t seem that familiar with anything. There is nothing to indicate he knew anything in advance.”
The President’s legal team released the transcript after one of Cohen’s lawyers, Lanny Davis, provided CNN with the audio — marking a dramatic escalation of rhetoric and turn against Trump by the Cohen camp.
Davis said that Cohen, who is under investigation for possible bank fraud and election law violations, decided to release the tape “following extensive discussions” with his lawyers about the timing and consequence. “It became necessary to rebut false statements. We were not going to let Michael become a punching bag.”
The Wall Street Journal first reported four days before the November 2016 election that McDougal had been paid by the National Enquirer. At the time, Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks called McDougal’s claims “totally untrue. We have no knowledge of any of this.”
The revelation of the existence of the recording showed for the first time that Trump in fact knew of her claims and efforts to keep her quiet at least two months earlier. The transcript and audio indicated that Trump’s knowledge predated that early September 2016 conversation with Cohen.