Trump was taped talking of payment
Cohen, candidate talked about money for model who alleged an affair
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen secretly recorded a conversation in which he and Trump discussed payments to a former Playboy model who claimed to have had an affair with Trump, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.
The person, who has reviewed the transcript of the contact but who is not authorized to comment publicly, said the recording was made about two months before the 2016 election and was among the materials seized during an April FBI raid on Cohen’s office, home and hotel room.
No payment was made after the discussion, the source said, adding that additional recordings involving the two men are believed to exist. The contents of those recordings were not immediately clear.
The development was first reported Friday by The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal reported later that the conversation took place in person.
In an interview with the Times, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani confirmed that Trump discussed the payments with Cohen, but he asserted that Trump did not engage in any wrongdoing.
“Nothing in that conversation suggests he had any knowledge of it in advance,” Giuliani said.
Federal prosecutors in New York have been investigating whether Cohen’s actions, including a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, violated campaign-finance laws as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe into the longtime Trump fixer.
The taped conversation in the FBI’s possession involves Karen McDougal, a former Playboy centerfold who said she had an affair with Trump. McDougal received a $150,000 payment in August 2016 from the parent company of the National Enquirer. But the tabloid did not publish the story.
Trump has denied the affairs.