President Donald Trump on Wednesday questioned his former attorney’s decision to secretly record conversations that they had after the release of an audio clip in which the pair discussed paying a woman who claims she had an affair with Trump more than a decade ago.
“What kind of a lawyer would tape a client?” Trump wrote Wednesday in a tweet. “So sad!”
What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad! Is this a first, never heard of it before? Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things? I hear there are other clients and many reporters that are taped - can this be so? Too bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2018
An attorney for Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer, released the clip Tuesday to CNN. Lanny Davis told the news network that the recording was made two months before the presidential election, in September 2016. The tape appears to contradict the Trump campaign's claim that Trump knew nothing about payments made to a media company in order to keep former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal's story from becoming public.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump is heard on tape discussing with his then-lawyer Michael Cohen how they would buy rights to a Playboy model's story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier, according to a recording of the conversation: https://t.co/YpJsjLHMYv pic.twitter.com/tN7YVpcNyz
— CNN (@CNN) July 25, 2018
About one month before the recording was made, the rights to McDougal's story were bought by American Media Inc., the company that publishes the National Enquirer, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In the tape, Trump can be heard discussing the logistics of financing and whether to "pay with cash," although the sound is muffled and Trump's instructions on that are unclear. Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told Fox News that the president actually said, "Don't pay with cash."
He repeated the claim Wednesday on Twitter.
If Cohen is telling the truth why are he and Lanny Davis misrepresenting the language from President Trump “Do not pay by cash...CHECK.” And why are they leaking falsely privileged and confidential information. So much for ethics!
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) July 25, 2018
The recording was one of several seized in April by federal authorities conducting search warrants on Cohen's hotel and office, according to The New York Times. Other items seized included Cohen's computer, his phone and several records, The Washington Post reported.
Authorities sought details on Cohen's efforts to stave off negative publicity of Trump, CBS News and the Times reported. Among other things, authorities sought information on the release of an infamous tape in which the president could be heard on a hot mic making derogatory comments about women and payments Cohen made to a pair of women who claim they had sexual relationships with Trump, including McDougal and adult film star Stormy Daniels, according to the Times.
Cohen's attorney has said he released the tape after being subjected to an "intense campaign of disparagement" by the president's team.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
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