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   From: fornobody@yahoo.com   
      
   Michael Cohen Taped Donald Trump Discussing Payments To Playmate: Reports   
   The New York Times reports that the recording, regarding payments to Karen   
   McDougal, has been seized by the FBI.   
      
       By Marina Fang, HuffPost US   
      
   X   
   Michael Cohen, longtime personal attorney to President Donald Trump, secretly   
   recorded the then-presidential candidate discussing a payment to former   
   Playboy model Karen McDougal, alleged to have had an affair with Trump, The   
   New York Times reported Friday.   
      
   According to the Times, the tape was among the documents and items seized   
   from Cohen’s New York office during an FBI raid earlier this year.   
      
   ABC News and CNN later confirmed the report.   
      
   Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s attorney representing the president in various ongoing   
   scandals, confirmed the tape’s existence, but dismissed its significance by   
   saying that it was less than two minutes long, according to the Times.   
      
   He also claimed that the recording suggests that Trump had no previous   
   knowledge of the payment.   
      
   “In the big scheme of things, it’s powerful exculpatory evidence,” Giuliani   
   said.   
   Getty Images   
   Michael Cohen, a longtime personal attorney to President Donald Trump, is   
   reported to have secretly recorded Trump discussing a payment to former   
   Playboy model Karen McDougal, right.   
      
   Cohen has been embroiled in an FBI investigation and scandals involving   
   secret payments to silence both McDougal and porn star Stormy Daniels, who   
   has also said she had an affair with Trump. Investigators are probing the   
   extent to which Cohen, who is seen as Trump’s fixer, helped cover up other   
   matters involving Trump and whether he violated campaign finance laws.   
      
   Earlier this year, Trump initially denied knowledge of the payment to   
   Daniels, but later admitted Cohen represented him in “this crazy Stormy   
   Daniels deal,” making it more difficult for him to distance himself from   
   Cohen.   
      
   McDougal has accused Cohen of being involved in a deal with the tabloid the   
   National Enquirer to kill her story of the alleged affair. She has claimed   
   that she approached the tabloid with the story in 2016, but it was never made   
   public. David Pecker, the CEO of American Media Inc., the National Enquirer’s   
   parent company, is a friend of Trump’s.   
      
   Numerous other stories about alleged misconduct involving Trump emerged   
   during the 2016 election, including sexual misconduct allegations from at   
   least 20 women and an infamous recording of Trump bragging about sexual   
   assault.   
      
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