Leaked tape piles pressure on Trump
NEW YORK — The dramatic leak of a taped conversation between Donald Trump and his longtime attorney signals an aggressive new strategy by Michael Cohen, raising questions about how much the US leader has to fear should the former fixer cooperate with prosecutors.
On the tape, which was broadcast Tuesday, Trump can be heard discussing with Cohen how to hush up allegations that he had an affair with a Playboy model in 2006, and buying the rights to her story.
The tape was reportedly made two months before the 2016 presidential election and weeks before the Trump campaign denied any knowledge about Karen McDougal's allegations of a 10-month fling with the tycoon.
Cohen's lawyer released the tape to television network CNN, an arch critic of the Trump administration, and in a flurry of interviews declared his client had "turned a corner" and would continue to speak "the truth."
Cohen, who once declared he was so loyal he would "take a bullet for the president," is under federal investigation in New York for his business dealings and reportedly whether hush payments violated campaign finance laws.
In addition to being involved in efforts to hush up McDougal's story, he famously paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels just weeks before the election to silence her own claims of an alleged onenight stand with Trump.