Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for porn actress Stormy Daniels, said that there is “more than one” recording of a conversation with President Trump and his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, but remained tight-lipped when pressed on how he was certain.
The comments come after a new court filing revealed that the federal government obtained at least 12 audio tapes from Cohen, and after it was reported on Friday that Cohen had recorded a conversation with Trump about a scheme to purchase rights to the story of a former playboy model who claimed she had an affair with Trump.
[Opinion: How many tapes of Trump did Michael Cohen have?]
“Well, I don’t know which 12 tapes have now been turned over,” Avenatti told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday. “I believe that there are recordings beyond 12, Anderson, and I know for a fact that there is more than one recording between Michael Cohen and Donald Trump. As I sit here right now, I don’t know which specific 12 we’re talking about or the press is reporting on. So I can’t comment as to whether within those 12 there is more than one with the president’s voice on it.”
Cooper then pressed Avenatti on whether there were other actual conversations, rather than voicemails, between Trump and Cohen.
“Yes, there is more than one recording of a conversation that Michael Cohen had with the president,” Avenatti said.
“And you can’t say how you know that?” Cooper said.
“I’m not willing, and I can’t say how I know it,” Avenatti said.
Cohen’s home and office were raided by the FBI in April, where agents seized computers, phones, and other materials of Cohen’s, including documents pertaining to Daniels. Cohen is under investigation for potentially violating tax or campaign finance laws.
Daniels has been embroiled in a legal battle with Trump over an alleged extramarital affair. Cohen paid her $130,000 in exchange for her silence on the affair, but she filed a lawsuit earlier this year claiming the nondisclosure agreement she signed should be nullified because Trump didn’t sign it.
Karen McDougal, who also claims to have had a sexual relationship with Trump, was paid $150,000 for exclusive rights of her story from the publisher of the National Enquirer, in exchange for her silence on the matter. However, the story never was published.
Trump has denied the alleged affairs with McDougal and Daniels.
