Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said Wednesday morning that the taped discussion in which Trump and his former lawyer Michael Cohen allegedly talked about how to pay off a Playboy model held “no surprise” for him.
“There was no surprise. There’s no expectation that that wasn’t the case, as far as I was concerned,” Rounds told CNN when asked how he reacted to the tape after Trump claimed he had no knowledge of the deal aimed at silencing Karen McDougal’s story.
Rounds suggested that he assumed Trump knew about the deal, even though the administration has denied any affair with McDougal.
[Trump fumes: ‘What type of lawyer would tape a client?’]
GOP @SenatorRounds: “There was no surprise” in the Trump-Cohen audio obtained by CNN@JohnBerman: “I do think it does speak volumes if we’re no longer surprised by evidence of dishonesty by a campaign or administration”https://t.co/QbcEqJYbrQ pic.twitter.com/TXKRAiUyw1
— New Day (@NewDay) July 25, 2018
Ahead of the 2016 presidential elections, McDougal was paid off by AMI, the parent company of National Inquirer, for her story alleging she had a 10-monthlong extramarital affair with Trump shortly after his son Baron was born. However, he story was never published.
The White House has said it is unaware of the payoff.
However, a tape released Tuesday night on CNN of a discussion between Trump and Cohen that appeared to show the two had at least discussed and were aware of the payoff to McDougal.
