Oh, Lordy! There ARE tapes! The New York Times reports that not only did Michael Cohen secretly record Donald Trump (something Cohen was well-known for doing), the FBI has the recordings in their possession.
President Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, secretly recorded a conversation with Mr. Trump two months before the presidential election in which they discussed payments to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump, according to lawyers and others familiar with the recording.
The F.B.I. seized the recording this year during a raid on Mr. Cohen’s office. The Justice Department is investigating Mr. Cohen’s involvement in paying women to tamp down embarrassing news stories about Mr. Trump ahead of the 2016 election. Prosecutors want to know whether that violated federal campaign finance laws, and any conversation with Mr. Trump about those payments would be of keen interest to them.
The recording was a full two months before the election. Rudy Giuliani is doing his best to spin this as positive news for Donald Trump.
“Nothing in that conversation suggests that he had any knowledge of it in advance,” Mr. Giuliani said, adding that Mr. Trump had directed Mr. Cohen that if he were to make a payment related to the woman, write a check, rather than sending cash, so it could be properly documented.
The recording in question isn’t related to Stormy Daniels and her hush money settlement. It’s relating to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who says she had a yearlong affair with Trump. She later expressed regret for carrying on an affair with him while he was married to Melania, who was home with their infant son around the time of the affair.
Karen McDougal was represented by Keith Davidson, who was Stormy Daniel’s original attorney and who represented another Playboy model who reached a settlement with Republican donor Elliott Broidy, who may or may not have paid her off as a favor to Donald Trump to conceal yet another Donald Trump affair AND an abortion.
Either way, Melania isn’t going to be happy with this news and if Michael Cohen recorded Trump discussing this payoff, what else did he record and what else does the FBI have?