Presidential candidate Donald Trump is heard on tape discussing with his attorney Michael Cohen how they would buy the rights to a Playboy model’s story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier, according to the audio recording of the conversation aired exclusively on CNN’s « Cuomo Prime Time. »
« I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David, » Cohen said in the recording, likely a reference to American Media head David Pecker.
Trump interrupts Cohen asking, « What financing? » according to the recording. When Cohen tells Trump, « We’ll have to pay. » Trump is heard saying « pay with cash » but the audio is muddled and it’s unclear whether he suggests paying with cash or not paying. Cohen says, « no, no » but it is not clear what is said next.
No payment was ever made from Trump, Rudy Giuliani, the President’s attorney, has said. Giuliani has previously acknowledged that the recorded discussion related to the buying the story rights.
The recording, which was provided to CNN by Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis, was made in September 2016.
« What is this about? This is about honesty versus false disparagement of Michael Cohen. Why is Giuliani out falsely disparaging Michael Cohen — because they fear him, » Davis said on « Cuomo Prime Time. »
« What do they fear, Chris? Why am I representing him? They fear that he has the truth about Donald Trump. He will someday speak the truth about Donald Trump. The truth is that when Donald Trump said ‘cash,’ which Rudy Giuliani knows that only drug dealers and mobsters talk about cash, it was, you heard Michael Cohen… say what? ‘No, no, no.' »
Court filings said federal prosecutors have obtained 12 audio recordings from the FBI raids on Cohen earlier this year. CNN previously reported that Trump’s lawyers waived attorney-client privilege on the President’s behalf regarding the recording involving him personally.
The discussion relates to whether Trump should buy the rights of the story from American Media, which paid McDougal $150,000 in August 2016 for her story about an alleged 10 month affair with Trump. The story was never published by AMI.
In addition to discussing the McDougal payment, Trump and Cohen are overheard running through a list of potential legal issues, including contesting a New York Times request to unseal divorce records from Trump’s first wife Ivana as well as more mundane matters such as polling numbers and Trump surrogate Pastor Mark Burns.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
