Federal Investigators Have More Than 100 Trump-Related Tapes From Cohen

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 16: Michael Cohen, longtime personal lawyer and confidante for President Donald Trump, arrives at the United States District Court Southern District of New York, April 16, 2018 in New York City.... NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 16: Michael Cohen, longtime personal lawyer and confidante for President Donald Trump, arrives at the United States District Court Southern District of New York, April 16, 2018 in New York City. Cohen and lawyers representing President Trump are asking the court to block Justice Department officials from reading documents and materials related to his CohenÕs relationship with President Trump that they believe should be protected by attorney-client privilege. Officials with the FBI, armed with a search warrant, raided Cohen's office and two private residences last week. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Federal investigators have seized more than 100 recordings that Michael Cohen made of conversations he had with people related to President Donald Trump and his business and campaign dealings, The Washington Post reported.

According to two people familiar with the tapes who spoke with the Post, a large swath of the recorded conversations are between Cohen and reporters who interviewed him during the campaign. Trump himself is heard on several of the tapes, but only in small doses, according to the Post. The most valuable recorded conversation between Trump and Cohen is the one that was released by Cohen’s attorney on Tuesday, where the two discuss a payment to a former Playboy model.

The majority of the recordings were made on an iPhone, without the other party’s knowledge. Cohen’s attorney Lenny Davis told the Post that Cohen’s intent with the recordings was never deception.

“Michael Cohen had the habit of using his phone to record conversations instead of taking notes,” Davis said.

The Trump team is reportedly contemplating whether to ask a court to rule on Cohen’s “indiscriminate release of material,” in the Post’s words. Trump’s advisers are also considering whether they should instead play along and release damning recordings of Cohen, according to two people close to the President.

Cohen reportedly decided to flip on Trump over feelings of personal betrayal, not as part of any significant legal strategy. Davis told the Post that Cohen had to “hit a reset button” and decided he didn’t want to “be a punching bag anymore.”

Read the Post’s full report on the additional Trump-Cohen tapes and what made Cohen flip here. 

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Notable Replies

  1. Keee-rap, that might be the smoking gun right there.

  2. Do any of them have an eighteen-and-a-half minute gap?

  3. A great many people are being hurt by this administration. Therefore it is small consolation Trump’s term is consumed by all things Russia, collusion, meddling, etc… Although it is nice knowing it gnaws on him, frustrates him, angers him and drives him to distraction. Every day.

  4. Surely one of these conversations was about the pee pee tape?

  5. Avatar for korvu korvu says:

    Rudy did say he had heard a lot worse than the one that has already been released. These must be them.

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