In her lawsuit against AMI, McDougal said she was happy when AMI bought her story then did not publish it, because she was not anxious for publicity. But she said her opinion changed this year when she learned new details about the deal, including that her attorney at the time and AMI had both been in contact with Cohen while her deal was being negotiated.<doc-sep>Donald Trump's longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, secretly taped a discussion with him about payments to a former Playboy model who says she had an affair with the US president, and the tape is now in FBI hands, The New York Times reported Friday. The FBI seized the recording earlier this year during a raid on Mr Cohen's office, the newspaper said in a bombshell revelation, quoting lawyers and others familiar with the recording. Mr Cohen, who no longer represents the president, is being investigated over payments made to women to hush up embarrassing news stories about Mr Trump ahead of the 2016 presidential election. FBI agents seized computers, phones and documents in an April raid on the lawyer's home and office as part of an ongoing investigation into his business dealings, including any information on payments made in 2016 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.<doc-sep>WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen secretly recorded a conversation in which he and Trump discussed payments to a formerPlayboy model who claimed to have had an affair with Trump, a person familiar with the matter said Friday. The person, who has reviewed the transcript of the contact but who is not authorized to comment publicly, said the recording was made about two months before the 2016 election and was among the materials seized during an April FBI raid on Cohen's office, home and hotel room. No payment was made following the discussion, the source said, adding that additional recordings involving the two men are believed to exist. The contents of those recordings were not immediately clear. The development was first reported Friday by The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal reported subsequently that the conversation took place in person. In an interview with The Times, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani confirmed Trump discussed the payments with Cohen on the tape, but he asserted that Trump did not engage in any wrongdoing. "Nothing in that conversation suggests he had any knowledge of it in advance," Giuliani said. Lanny Davis, one of Cohen's lawyers, claimed in a written statement late Friday that the contents of the recording would not be damaging for his client. “Obviously, there is an ongoing investigation, and we are sensitive to that," Davis said. "But suffice it to say that when the recording is heard, it will not hurt Mr. Cohen. Any attempt at spin cannot change what is on the tape.” The revelation casts a fresh spotlight on efforts before the presidential campaign to put the lid on damaging disclosures about Trump, as well as the trove of information Cohen might possess as he weighs cooperating with prosecutors. Federal prosecutors in New York have been investigating whether Cohen's actions, including a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, violated campaign-finance laws as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe into the longtime Trump fixer. Daniels, who said she had sex with Trump in 2006, received $130,000 from Cohen days before the election in exchange for her silence. After months of denials, Trump in May filed a financial disclosure report showing he reimbursed Cohen for the Daniels' payment. The taped conversation now in the FBI's possession involves Karen McDougal, a former Playboy centerfold who said she had an affair with Trump that began in 2006. McDougal received a $150,000 payment in August 2016 from the parent company of the National Enquirer. But the tabloid did not publish the story, keeping it out of public view. The head of the Enquirer's parent company, David Pecker, is a Trump ally. In a lawsuit she has since settled, McDougal argued that Cohen secretly intervened in the deal she struck with the tabloid's owner. Daniels, meanwhile, is suing to break free of her confidentiality agreement. Trump has denied the affairs. Lawyers representing Cohen and Trump have wrangled in court with prosecutors over the millions of items – documents, emails, files and other material – seized from Cohen's office, home and hotel room this year. A lawyer representing Cohen previously has said "audio files" were among the materials seized. More:Court-ordered review in Cohen raid yields 1.3M items for government More:Trump associate Michael Cohen hires longtime Clinton ally Lanny Davis<doc-sep>Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, takes a call near the Loews Regency hotel on Park Ave on April 13, 2018 in New York City. Photo : Yana Paskova ( Getty Images ) Bitch! The FBI didn’t just seize one tape that happened to have Donald Trump’s voice on it discussing the possibility of paying off former Playboy playmate (which feels like the equivalent of saying former high school junior varsity standout) Karen McDougal, they seized 12 tapes! Advertisement Count them with me. One, two, three, four ... a whole bunch of tapes! Wait, before you get all hype like I am, there is no word that Trump is on the other 11 tapes, but apparently Michael Cohen was out here making tapes like Kid Capri in the ’80s. Michael Cohen was mixing tapes like a young Master P. He was moving tapes like Drake’s godfather when he was trying to get Rap-A-Lot Records off the ground. According to NBC News, in April when the FBI raided all of Cohen’s spots, including his office and hotel rooms in Manhattan, they seized all kinds of goodies like documents and 12 tapes! Have you been listening? ! Cohen got tapes like Scotch. Here’s how NBC News explains what’s happening with Cohen’s masters, which have now been given to federal investigators. At least one of the tapes is a secret recording of Trump that Cohen made just before the 2016 presidential election, in which Cohen and Trump discussed a buying the rights to the story of a former Playboy model who says she had an affair with Trump, according to Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and an individual with knowledge of Cohen’s legal strategy. It is not known whose voice is on the other 11 tapes, but Cohen, a former in-house counsel at the Trump Organization, said in court earlier this year that he only had three clients in 2017 and 2018 — Trump, Fox News host Sean Hannity and Elliott Broidy, the former deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, who impregnated and then paid a woman with whom he had an affair. The 12 tapes were among the seized items submitted to a court-appointed special master to see if they were covered by attorney-client privilege. The entities or “parties” covered by the search warrant — meaning Cohen and the Trump Organization — withdrew their designations of privilege for the 12 tapes. Once the “parties” waived the designation, Special Master Barbara Jones turned the tapes over to federal prosecutors. And here’s the best part, according to NBC News, a lawyer recording a meeting with a client is not illegal. “T aping a conversation is the functional equivalent of retaining notes,” a source familiar with Cohen’s legal strategy told the news station. So Trump’s claims that it was “inconceivable that a lawyer would tape a client—totally unheard of & perhaps illegal,” might just be bullshit. Who are we kidding, of course it’s bullshit. I bet Trump is wishing he paid Cohen’s lawyers’ fees when he had the chance.<doc-sep>
Twelve audiotapes seized when federal agents raided the home and office of former Trump private attorney Michael Cohen have now been released to federal investigators. At least one of the tapes is a secret recording of Trump that Cohen made just before the 2016 presidential election, in which Cohen and Trump discussed a buying the rights to the story of a former Playboy model who says she had an affair with Trump, according to Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and an individual with knowledge of Cohen's legal strategy. It is not known whose voice is on the other 11 tapes, but Cohen, a former in-house counsel at the Trump Organization, said in court earlier this year that he only had three clients in 2017 and 2018 — Trump, Fox News host Sean Hannity and Elliott Broidy, the former deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, who impregnated and then paid a woman with whom he had an affair. The 12 tapes were among the seized items submitted to a court-appointed special master to see if they were covered by attorney-client privilege. The entities or "parties" covered by the search warrant — meaning Cohen and the Trump Organization — withdrew their designations of privilege for the 12 tapes. Once the “parties” waived the designation, Special Master Barbara Jones turned the tapes over to federal prosecutors. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Cohen secretly recorded Trump shortly before the election talking about Playboy model Karen McDougal. The recording was seized in April when the FBI raided Cohen's office and hotel rooms in Manhattan, The Times reported, citing lawyers and others familiar with the recording. A person familiar with Cohen's legal strategy told NBC News that "a lawyer taping a client is not illegal. New York is a one-party state. Taping a conversation is the functional equivalent of retaining notes." Trump said Saturday it was "inconceivable that a lawyer would tape a client — totally unheard of & perhaps illegal." Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, however, said that any attorney-client privilege claim over a recording of a phone call between Trump and Cohen about McDougal has been waived.