Cohen testified Donald Trump himself directed him to violate the law, Cohen’s attorney says
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Ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen pleads guilty to campaign finance violations
Cohen testified Donald Trump himself directed him to violate the law, Cohen’s attorney says
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Ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen pleads guilty to campaign finance violations
Georgia state rep. Jason Spencer is seen yelling the N-word and exposing his rear end in the latest episode of Sacha Baron Cohen’s new show
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Lawmaker who made racist slurs, vulgar gestures on show won’t resign
Michael Cohen secretly recorded a conversation with President Trump shortly before the election
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Was it legal for Michael Cohen to secretly tape Trump?
Tarik Cohen should see a hike in touches under new Bears coach Matt Nagy, who can use the second-year RB in ways similar to how he did Tyreek Hill.
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How Matt Nagy will better utilize Tarik Cohen in Bears’ offense
Tarik Cohen should see a hike in touches under new Bears coach Matt Nagy, who can use the second-year RB in ways similar to how he did Tyreek Hill.
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How Matt Nagy will better utilize Tarik Cohen in Bears’ offense
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — Donald Trump said Saturday he finds it “inconceivable” that a lawyer would tape a client, as the president weighed in after the disclosure that in the weeks before the 2016 election, his then-personal attorney secretly recorded their discussion about a potential payment for a former Playboy model’s account of having an affair with Trump. The recording was part of a large collection of documents and electronic records seized earlier this year by federal authorities from Michael Cohen, the longtime Trump fixer. In a tweet, Trump called such taping “totally unheard of & perhaps illegal.” He also asserted, without elaborating, in post: “The good news is that your favorite President did nothing wrong!” Cohen had made a practice of recording conversations, unbeknownst to those he was speaking with. Most states, including New York, allow for recordings of conversations with only the consent of one party; other states require all parties to agree to a recording or have mixed laws on the matter. It was not immediately clear where Trump and Cohen were located at the time of the call. Cohen’s recording adds to questions about whether Trump tried to quash damaging stories before the election. Trump’s campaign had said it knew nothing about any payment to ex-centerfold Karen McDougal. Transparency groups and Democrats have argued that the secret efforts to silence Trump accusers, including a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, should be investigated by the Federal Election Commission as potential violations of campaign finance laws, which require disclosure of campaign expenditures. Trump’s attorneys have argued that any payments to accusers would have been made regardless of his presidential candidacy, and that no violation occurred. The recording could also further entangle the president in a criminal investigation that for months has targeted Cohen. The erstwhile Trump loyalist has hired a new attorney, Clinton White House veteran Lanny Davis, and disassociated himself from the president as both remain under investigation. Cohen has not been charged with a crime. Current Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said the payment was never made and the brief recording shows Trump did nothing wrong. “The transaction that Michael is talking about on the tape never took place, but what’s important is: If it did take place, the president said it has to be done correctly and it has to be done by check” to keep a proper record of it, Giuliani said. Davis said “any attempt at spin cannot change what is on the tape.” “When the recording is heard, it will not hurt Mr. Cohen,” Davis said in a statement. The recording was first reported Friday by The New York Times. The FBI raided Cohen’s office, home and hotel room in April, searching in part for information about payments to McDougal and porn actress Stormy Daniels, who received a $130,000 payment from Cohen before the election to keep quiet about a sexual relationship she says she had with Trump. The FBI investigation is separate from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of election interference in 2016 and potential obstruction of justice by those in the president’s orbit. Referring to that raid, Trump called it “inconceivable that the government would break into a lawyer’s office (early in the morning) — almost unheard of. Even more inconceivable that a lawyer would tape a client.” In past comments Trump has also referred to the court-ordered seizure as a “break-in,” though Cohen has been more sanguine, saying the FBI agents were courteous and respectful. A self-described fixer for Trump for more than a decade, Cohen said last year he would “take a bullet” for Trump. But he told ABC News in an interview broadcast this month that he now puts “family and country first” and won’t let anyone paint him as “a villain of this story.” On Twitter, he scrubbed mentions and photos of Trump from a profile that previously identified him as “Personal attorney to President Donald J. Trump.” (@Copyright 2018. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Trump Says It’s ‘Inconceivable’ Attorney Michael Cohen Taped Their Conversations
A secret recording of President Trump made by his former personal lawyer appears to undercut the president’s denial of payments to a former Playboy model. Michael Cohen taped a conversation with the president about a payment to the woman a few months before the 2016 election. Errol Barnett reports.
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White House stays silent on secret tape of Trump discussing payments
A secret recording of President Trump made by his former personal lawyer appears to undercut the president’s denial of payments to a former Playboy model. Michael Cohen taped a conversation with the president about a payment to the woman a few months before the 2016 election. Errol Barnett reports.
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White House stays silent on secret tape of Trump discussing payments
WASHINGTON (CBS News) – Two months before the November 2016 election, longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen secretly recorded a conversation with then-candidate Donald Trump about payments to former Playboy model Karen McDougal , the New York Times reported Friday. President Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen exits the U.S. Federal Court on April 16, 2018, in Lower Manhattan, New York. (Getty Images) McDougal alleges she had a roughly year-long relationship with the real estate mogul in 2006. The Times cited lawyers and others familiar with the recording. That recording, according to the Times, was seized by the FBI when it raided Cohen’s office in April, as a part of federal investigators’ probe into Cohen’s business dealings. The Times says Cohen’s lawyers became aware of the tape when they reviewed evidence collected by investigators, and Cohen’s lawyers shared the recording with Mr. Trump’s lawyers. Justice Department investigators, as CBS News has reported, are interested in payments made to women who claim they had a relationship with Mr. Trump to determine if there were any campaign finance violations. The report of the recorded conversation comes amid questions of whether Cohen will cooperate with federal investigators as a part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling and ties to Trump associates. Cohen, as CBS News’ Jeff Pegues has reported, has been under a great deal of pressure to cooperate. According to Mr. Trump, Cohen is no longer his personal lawyer. McDougal accepted $150,000 from American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of tabloids including the National Enquirer. She sold her story with the expectation that she would write for the Enquirer, but AMI didn’t publish the story, a process sometimes called “catch and kill.” CBS News has reached out to the president’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and to Cohen’s lawyer. In a phone conversation with the Times, Giuliani confirmed Mr. Trump had discussed payments with Cohen on the tape, but claimed the payment was ultimately never made. “Nothing in that conversation suggests that he had any knowledge of it in advance,” said Giuliani, who told the Times that Mr. Trump had directed Cohen that if he made a payment related to the woman, he should write a check instead of sending cash to document the transaction. “In the big scheme of things, it’s powerful exculpatory evidence,” Giuliani also told the Times. Payments to women have become a topic the White House and Mr. Trump’s lawyers have had to address in recent months. In May, Giuliani revealed on Fox News that Mr. Trump repaid Cohen for a $130,000 payment Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the election in 2016. Giuliani insisted that there was no campaign finance violation in that instance. A White House spokesperson said in a February statement that Mr. Trump denies having had an affair with McDougal. “This is an old story that is just more fake news,” the spokesperson said at the time. “The President says he never had a relationship with McDougal.” © 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Report: Attorney Recorded Trump Discussing Hush Money Payment To Karen McDougal