Trump talks about model payoff in tape
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A secretly recorded tape of US President Donald Trump by his longtime personal lawyer was played on CNN Tuesday night in which the two can be heard talking about a potential payment for a Playboy model’s story about an alleged affair and the soon-to-be president is heard discussing whether to “pay with cash.”
The audio recording, surreptitiously made by Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen two months before the 2016 presidential election, was provided to CNN by Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis.
The conversation between Trump and Cohen came weeks after the National Enquirer’s parent company reached a $150,000 deal to pay former
Playboy model Karen McDougal for her story of a 2006 affair, which it never published, a tabloid practice known as catch and kill.
Trump denies the affair ever happened and his campaign had said he knew nothing about the payment.
Trump and Cohen appear to be discussing buying the rights to McDougal’s story from the
Enquirer’s parent company. Cohen can be heard on the tape saying that he needed to start a company “for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David,” a possible reference to David Pecker, Trump’s friend and president of the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc.
When Cohen begins to discuss financing, Trump interrupts him and asks, “What financing?”
“We’ll have to pay,” Cohen responded.
The audio is muffled, but Trump can be heard saying “pay with cash,” though it isn’t clear if he is suggesting to pay with cash or not to pay with cash. Cohen immediately says, “No, no, no” and Trump can then be heard saying, “check.”
Trump’s current attorney, Rudy Giuliani, told The Associated Press that he’s had an expert enhance the recording and the president says “don’t pay with cash.”
“It clearly indicates that the president did not want to pay with cash. Suggesting otherwise is ridiculous and is inconsistent with the rest of the conversation, during which it was discussed doing it through a corporation,” Giuliani said.
Giuliani said Cohen, as Trump’s lawyer, thought it would be best if he could buy the rights to McDougal’s story and the recording captures the two of them discussing how to do that.
“Cohen says I have to pay him. The president brings up cash and says don’t pay with cash and says ‘check,’ He wants it memorialized,” Giuliani said. “Cohen then says ‘No, no, no, no’ and he cuts off the tape. He obviously cuts it off in mid-sentence and that in itself is suspicious.”
“The president wanted to do it the right way. If you wanted to hide something, you would not do it by corporation or check,” he said.
The payment was never made and Giuliani said he didn’t know why that was the case and hadn’t discussed it with Trump.
“Listen to the tape. Trump is not shocked money is being paid about someone named Karen McDougal,” Davis said.