Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, appeared to covertly record a conversation he had with CNN’s Chris Cuomo earlier this year, a new report says.
In the conversation, which lasted for almost two hours, Cohen disclosed details about a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump.
“I did it on my own,” Cohen said in regard to the payment, the Wall Street Journal reports.
However, Trump reimbursed Cohen through a series of payments, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani revealed in the spring.
Cohen also pushed back when pressed if the payment could be considered an in-kind donation for Trump’s campaign, arguing, “It wasn’t for the campaign. It was for him.”
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.
It was revealed Monday that federal investigators have 12 tapes of Cohen’s, including the conversation with Cuomo.
“It was Michael Cohen’s habit for many years to record conversations in lieu of taking notes,” said Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Mr. Cohen. “He had no intention of ever publicizing such tapes nor any intention to ever deceive anyone.”
The report also reveals that Cohen established a Delaware shell company with the intention of using it to pay for the rights to a former Playboy model’s story about an alleged affair with Trump.
In September 2016, Cohen launched Resolution Consultants LLC so that the rights to Playboy model Karen McDougal could be bought from American Media Inc., the Wall Street Journal reports. Cohen’s intent to use the company to funnel a payment for the rights to McDougal’s story is a new development in Cohen’s handling of a series of payments.
It was previously reported that Resolution Consultants LLC had been been established by Cohen, but then was dissolved. He subsequently established another shell company called Essential Consultants LLC that was used to funnel a $130,000 payment to Daniels.
But Daniels filed a lawsuit earlier this year, claiming the nondisclosure agreement she signed should be nullified because Trump didn’t sign it.
McDougal, who also claims to have had a sexual relationship with Trump, was paid $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story from the publisher of the National Enquirer, in exchange for her silence on the matter. The story never was published.
Trump has denied the alleged affairs with McDougal and Daniels.
