CNN plays audio recording of Trump-Cohen conversation
WASHINGTON, July 25
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday expressed disbelief that his long-time personal lawyer Michael Cohen would have taped conversations with him, after an audio recording of a conversation between the two men was aired on US television.
A lawyer for Cohen, Lanny Davis, released the recording of Trump and Cohen discussing paying for the rights to a Playboy model’s story about an alleged affair with Trump and it aired on CNN on Tuesday Night. Davis told CNN he released it to dispute an assertion by Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani that tape would show that Trump made clear that if there were going to be a payment, it should be done by check, which would be easily traced. Giuliani has said the payment was never made.
In the recording, Trump can be heard saying “pay with cash.” Cohen counters by repeatedly saying, “No.” According to Giuliani, in his transcript of the recording, Trump says on the tape: “Don’t pay with cash. Check.” Reuters was unable to verify the entire exchange between the two men because of the poor sound quality of the recording.
Davis and Giuliani did not respond to a request for further comment. In an interview with ABC News, Davis disputed Giuliani’s characterization of the call and said they method of payment was beside the point.”It’s not about cash versus noncash. It’s about truth,” Davis said on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
The discussion of any payment could support claims by Trump’s critics, including groups like the watchdog group Common Cause, that a payment benefited his presidential campaign and the failure to document it was potentially illegal.
Under US election law, presidential candidates must disclose campaign contributions, which are defined as things of value given to a campaign in order to influence an election.
Legal experts have said a payment would not violate such laws if it were made for personal reasons.
“People in Trump’s position have all kinds of reasons for making these kind of payments, like family harmony or retaining commercial viability,” said Bradley Smith, a professor and former chairman of the Federal Election Commission.
Giuliani has said the proposed payment was a personal matter and not subject to campaign finance law.
Before the election, Trump’s campaign denied any knowledge of payment to McDougal, but the taped conversation could undermine those denials. — Reuters
