This combination of file pictures created on July 20, 2018 shows (L-R)
US President Donald Trump on July 18, 2018, in Washington, DC, and
Playboy model Karen McDougal on February 6, 2010 in Miami Beach,
Florida. PHOTO | NICHOLAS KAMM AND DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS | AFP
NEW YORK,
President Donald
Trump was secretly taped two months before the 2016 election discussing a
payment to hush up an alleged affair with a Playboy model and the FBI
has the recording, bombshell reports claimed Friday.
The
tape was reputedly made by his former long-time lawyer Michael Cohen,
who is under federal investigation in New York for his business dealings
and reportedly whether hush payments violated campaign finance laws.
The
Republican commander-in-chief on Friday did not answer questions
shouted out by reporters about the Cohen tape as he prepared to fly out
of the White House en route to his New Jersey golf club.
The New York Times
broke the story, saying the FBI seized the recording during a raid on
Cohen's office earlier this year, quoting lawyers and others familiar
with the recording. Cohen has not yet been arrested or charged.
Former
Playboy model Karen McDougal claims she had a months-long affair with
Trump after they met in 2006, shortly after Trump's wife Melania gave
birth to their son Barron. She told CNN previously that he tried to pay her for sex.
The Wall Street Journal said the
September 2016 conversation between Trump and Cohen was about buying the
rights to McDougal's story, which she sold a month earlier to The National Enquirer for $150,000.
The
tabloid ultimately sat on it, preventing it from becoming public. The
chairman of its parent company, American Media, is a Trump friend.
Friday's
reports raise questions about why Trump's campaign denied knowledge of
the deal between McDougal and American Media when it became public, as
well as fan speculation about how much damage Cohen can inflict on the
president.
Trump's current personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, confirmed to the Times that the Cohen tape existed, but claimed the president had done nothing wrong.
STORMY AND MCDOUGAL
The
recording was less than two minutes and gave no indication that Trump
had prior knowledge about the media payment to McDougal, Giuliani told
the Times.
"It helps us, rather than hurts us," he was quoted as saying by the Journal.
Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, declined to comment Friday.
The
FBI raided Cohen's home and office in April on a referral from special
counsel Robert Mueller, who is looking into Russian interference in the
2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow.
The
Justice Department says Cohen has been under investigation for months
for criminal conduct largely centered on his personal business dealings.
Prosecutors
are apparently interested in payments he made on Trump's behalf to porn
actress Stormy Daniels, and other business dealings related to Trump.
Both Daniels and McDougal allege they had affairs with Trump around the same time, in 2006.
Cohen,
who became Trump's personal lawyer in 2007, is infamous for paying
$130,000 to Daniels — real name, Stephanie Clifford — shortly before the
2016 election to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump.
'MULTIPLE' TAPES
Her
lawyer, Michael Avenatti, claimed Friday there were "multiple" tapes
and urged Cohen to release all audio recordings publicly.
"All of them should be released for the benefit of the American public," he told CNN.
"This
is the tip of the iceberg," he added. "When all of this evidence
ultimately comes to light and I hope that it will... this is going to
spell a significant problem for Michael Cohen and a larger problem for
the president."
Cohen initially said he used his own money to pay Daniels and was not reimbursed by Trump.
The US president has subsequently conceded that Cohen was paid back, despite initially denying knowledge of the payment.
Through White House officials, Trump has denied a relationship with Daniels.
In
one recent interview, Cohen apparently signalled a potential
willingness to cooperate with prosecutors against the Republican
president.
"To be crystal clear, my wife, my daughter and my son, and this country have my first loyalty," Cohen told ABC News in an interview released on July 2.
After The National Enquirer
sat on her story, McDougal accused American Media of misleading her
into signing the contract and Cohen of intervening inappropriately.
In April, the group agreed to release her from the deal.
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