By Dustin Rowles | Politics | July 24, 2018 |
By Dustin Rowles | Politics | July 24, 2018 |
Lanny Davis, the new attorney for Michael Cohen, appeared on CNN tonight, said that Michael Cohen has turned the corner on his life, wants to reset and tell the truth (and not go to jail). In furtherance of that, Davis provided CNN with a recording that Michael Cohen took of Donald Trump discussing the deal to pay former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal in an effort to keep their affair out of the papers.
Here’s the tape.
Full audio: Presidential candidate Trump is heard on tape discussing with his attorney Michael Cohen how they would buy the rights to a Playboy model's story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier, according to the audio recording "https://t.co/YmC0QuDqTx pic.twitter.com/fBbq7r1Lq9
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) July 25, 2018
Why is it important? Because it illustrates that Donald Trump wanted to use cash to pay off “David” Pecker, the head of American Media (and The National Enquirer) who paid McDougal for her story so that they could kill it. Previously, there was no official record of Trump being involved in that transaction, but this clearly suggests that The National Enquirer paid for the story for Donald Trump, and that Donald Trump paid them back “in cash,” likely in an effort to hide the money trail.
It also confirms that Donald Trump clearly was involved in a transaction designed specifically to silence his mistress, to keep a woman who had a year-long affair with the President from telling her story, just weeks before the election. In fact, had this been known at the time, it could have changed the outcome of the election.
It will also likely raise questions about campaign finance laws, as well as the role The National Enquirer played, either as a media outlet or as what is essentially a paid campaign conduit for Trump.
This tape is more evidence that @realDonaldTrump himself was directly involved in a campaign finance law violation. And because the amount exceeded $25,000, it would be punishable as a felony. #TrumpTapes also show Rudy Giuliani lied. But that's not news. https://t.co/0vvq2tBQax
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 25, 2018