Donald Trump can be heard on tape discussing with his attorney Michael Cohen how to purchase the rights to former Playboy model Karen McDougal's story about her alleged affair with Trump, in a recording obtained by CNN.
The tape, which aired late Tuesday, was released to the network and public for the first time by Mr Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, who argued that its contents proved his client tried to handle the payment legally whereas Mr Trump instead sought to pay in cash.
The conversation took place in September of 2016, two months before the presidential election.
The rights to Ms McDougal’s story were bought for $150,000 by the National Enquirer, which proceeded not to publish her account in a practice known as “catch and kill”.
American Media Inc, the tabloid's parent company, is headed by David Pecker, a close ally and friend of Trump's.
The existence of the tape first came to light last week as part of the continuing investigation into Mr Cohen’s financial dealings.
Mr Cohen, who long worked as Mr Trump’s personal fixer, has increasingly signaled he would cooperate with federal authorities.
That could be severely problematic for Mr Trump, given their close association.
In the tape, Mr Cohen can be heard explaining to the then presidential candidate his plans to open a company through which he would finance the purchase of the rights to Ms McDougal’s story.
‘Pay with cash’
Ms McDougal has alleged she had an affair with Mr Trump about a decade ago - an allegation the White House has vehemently denied.
Mr Trump interrupts Mr Cohen in the record to ask: “What financing?” Mr Cohen proceeds to tell Mr Trump: “We’ll have to pay,” after which Mr Trump is heard saying: “Pay with cash.” But the recording is muddled, making it difficult to confirm the full context of Mr Trump’s comments.
Last week, Mr Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani insisted his client had done nothing wrong and in fact sought to make the payment through check as a matter of record.
“They’re talking about a corporation doing it, one of their corporations doing it,” Mr Giuliani said.
“The president says: ‘Make sure it’s done correctly, and make sure it’s done by check.’”
Mr Davis said the tape was being released so that the public could hear that Mr Trump mentioned the word "cash", arguing that method was the preference of "drug dealers and mobsters" and inherently designed to remain secret.
"We have truth on our side and they are afraid," Mr Davis told the CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on Tuesday.
According to court filings, the government obtained as many as 12 audio recordings after FBI raids on Mr Cohen conducted this year.
Mr Cohen is also under scrutiny for paying $130,000 in hush money to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actor who has also alleged an affair with Mr Trump.
The White House similarly denied both the affair and Mr Trump’s knowledge of any related payment, only to be contradicted by Mr Giuliani, who suggested the president had personally reimbursed Mr Cohen.
Although Mr Giuliani later walked back his claim, Mr Trump’s potential involvement in the payments has been a subject of intense focus.
–Guardian