Trump recorded without his knowledge speaking to buy the silence of an old playmate

New York – Donald Trump's former personal attorney recorded a conversation without his acquaintance, in which the two men discussed how to buy the silence of an old playmate with which the President of the United States would have had an affair.
  

Development is important because Michael Cohen, who for a long time was one of the pillars of Donald Trump's entourage and is the subject of a federal inquiry, has recently indicated that his loyalty has limitations.

The recording, made two months before the November 2016 presidential poll, was seized by FBI investigators during a search of Michael Cohen's offices, the New York Times reported.

The discussion was about Playboy magazine's former playmate Karen McDougal, who claims to have had a romantic relationship " 10 months in 2006 and 2007 " with the one who had not yet entered politics .

According to the New York Times, Mr. Cohen was reportedly consulted by the press owner David Pecker about the testimony of Karen McDougal.

The National Enquirer, flagship title of the group of David Pecker, had indeed agreed to buy the exclusivity of this confession for $ 150,000.

According to several media, during the recorded conversation, Michael Cohen informs Donald Trump of the payment made by the press group.

The two men mention the possibility of buying back these rights themselves. Donald Trump seems open to the idea and even questions his lawyer about the method of payment. The recording stops before the end of the conversation.

The transaction never finally took place. The New Yorker magazine stated, based on anonymous testimonies, that Mr. Pecker and the National Enquirer ultimately chose not to publish Karen McDougal's testimony to preserve Donald Trump, a friend of David Pecker, which is denied by .

The existence of the recording was confirmed in several media by another Donald Trump attorney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who found the tape to be more exonerating Donald Trump than he was compromised.

For Mr. Giuliani, quoted by several American media, Mr. Trump wanted, above all, to regularize a transaction and not to hide it.

Asked by AFP, Michael Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, declined to comment. Asked on the fly by reporters as he left the White House for the weekend, Donald Trump did not answer.

On the basis of the known elements of the conversation revealed Friday, it seems that the registration does not present, in itself, legal risk for Donald Trump, since the payment was never made.

But it is part of the FBI's investigation, which seeks to determine whether the possible use of funds in the presidential campaign to pay for former Donald Trump's alleged conquests could constitute an offense against electoral rules.

Michael Cohen is currently undergoing a major FBI investigation, which could lead to prosecution.

It was launched in part at the request of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, who is investigating an alleged collusion between Mr. Trump's team and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign.

– For Trump , the threat Cohen –

Michael Cohen is regularly regarded as the henchman of Donald Trump, more than as his lawyer.

In particular, the council publicly acknowledged paying $ 130,000 to badgraphic actress Stormy Daniels in November 2016 to buy her silence about a badual relationship she allegedly had with the president in 2006.

Faithless However, Michael Cohen recently sent a first signal that his loyalty was limited.

" I am faithful to my wife, my daughter and my son, and I will always be ," he said in an interview with ABC in early July. " I place my family and my country first ".

For Donald Trump, there is now the prospect of Michael Cohen's collaboration with the judiciary, which could expose compromising elements for the president.

After Friday's revelation, Stormy Daniels' media lawyer, Michael Avenatti, claimed that there were several recordings made by Michael Cohen and called for their publication.