Authorities have obtained a copy of a recording of a conversation Donald Trump had with his longtime attorney Michael Cohen two months before Election Day about a Playboy model who claims she had an affair with Trump.
The model, Karen McDougal, ultimately got a $150,000 payment from the National Enquirer for her story, although it never ran. She says she had a year-long affair with Trump.
The FBI seized Cohen’s devices during a raid on his home and office in New York this spring. A court then oversaw the culling of millions of documents and files to determine which ones might be protected by attorney-client priveledge.
McDougal says she had a year-long affair with Trump after the birth of his son Baron
He is now under criminal investigation on possible tax and campaign finance charges, and it is unclear if the tape would apply added pressure him.
President Trump and his associates are closely watching Cohen to see if he decides to cooperate with authorities should charges be brought against him.
Current Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani says the recording is two minutes long, the New York Times reported.
Giuliani said it would play to Trump’s benefit.
McDougal is seen far right in this photo with Melania Trump (third from left), Donald Trump (center), and Ivanka Trump (third from right
Cohen is under criminal investigation. Authorities obtained tape he made of a conversation with Trump about McDougal
‘Nothing in that conversation suggests that he had any knowledge of it in advance,’ Giuliani said, according to the Times, and said Trump told Cohen that if he made a payment to McDougal, he should write a check, rather than using cash, so it could be properly documented.
In the case of another woman who claimed an affair with Trump, porn star Stormy Daniels, Cohen did write her a check, using an LLC he set up immediately beforehand.
‘In the big scheme of things, it’s powerful exculpatory evidence,’ said Giuliani.