More Donald Trump Tapes With Michael Cohen Coming Soon, As Well As Calls With Other ‘Powerful’ People: Report
The New York Times on Friday revealed that federal prosecutors are in possession of a tape-recorded phone call between Donald Trump and his longtime lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen, on which Trump is heard discussing hush money payments to former Playboy Playmate of the Year Karen McDougal just weeks before the 2016 presidential election. But that was far from the only time Cohen secretly recorded Trump on the phone, a later report by CNN revealed.
In fact, a source told the network, there are “definitely all kinds of tapes out there.”
McDougal said she had a lengthy affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007, as The Inquisitr has reported, and she received a $150,000 payment from The National Enquirer during the 2016 presidential campaign that prevented her from discussing her sexual relationship with Trump. She later sued to get out of that agreement, and the suit was settled in April.
While Trump and Cohen can be heard on the tape reported by The New York Times discussing making a hush money deal with McDougal — a deal that was later made by The Enquirer — the content of the other tapes now in the hands of federal prosecutors remains unreported. But according to Friday’s CNN report, “Cohen has other recordings of the President in his records that were seized by the FBI.”
The FBI raided Cohen’s office and residences on April 9, as The Inquisitr has reported, seizing millions of documents, including the tape recordings. In addition to Trump, prosecutors also have recordings made by Cohen of calls with other “powerful” people “of significance and consequence,” and that those recordings could prove “embarrassing” both for the other individuals and for Cohen himself.
But according to journalist Marcy Wheeler, who is an expert on the Russia collusion investigation into Trump’s campaign, Cohen may have leaked word of the Trump tape to the New York Times himself.
She notes that in a report by the Special Master in the Southern District of New York federal court, there were 22 documents in the trove of seized material that Cohen claims should be protected by attorney-client privilege — but for reasons that were not explained, he told the court he would release them anyway.
Trump was reportedly stunned when he learned that Cohen had recorded their calls, including the call to discuss potential hush money payoffs to McDougal. “I can’t believe Michael would do this with me,” he said, one source told CNN. And CNBC reported on Friday that Trump claimed to be “unaware” that Cohen recorded him.
