'Inconceivable:' President Trump Responds To Reports Of Cohen Recording
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – President Donald Trump blasted his former attorney Michael Cohen on Twitter for secretly recording at least one conversation between them.
This comes after CBS News reported Cohen taped then-candidate Trump discussing a possible payment to Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed she once had a year-long affair with the future president.
"Inconceivable that the government would break into a lawyer's office (early in the morning) - almost unheard of. Even more inconceivable that a lawyer would tape a client - totally unheard of & perhaps illegal. The good news is that your favorite President did nothing wrong!" Trump tweeted Saturday morning.
The two-minute phone call was made two months before the 2016 election, CBS News reported. Federal investigators uncovered the recording during raids on Cohen's home and offices in April.
McDougal spoke with CNN earlier this year after settling a lawsuit against the publisher of the National Enquirer, which bought the rights to her story but did not print it. She believes David Pecker, the man behind the tabloid and a friend of the president, killed her story to protect him leading up to Election Day.
"There were real feelings between the two of us," she said.
If Trump or Cohen is directly linked to payments made to secure silence from women alleging affairs, there could be a violation of federal campaign finance laws.
Sources familiar with the matter tell CBS News the recording was initially protected by attorney-client privilege. That was, until the client – Trump – waived that right.
