*By Alisha Haridasani* President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, secretly recorded a discussion back in 2016 with the then-candidate about payments to a former Playboy model who claims she had an affair with Trump, according to a [New York Times report](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/us/politics/michael-cohen-trump-tape.html?action=Click&contentCollection=BreakingNews&contentID=67348559&pgtype=Homepage). Siraj Hashmi, commentary writer at the Washington Examiner, said he thinks the story was planted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team. “Undoubtedly, this information most likely came from Mueller’s team,” Hashmi told Cheddar. “The Mueller team is looking into everything: they’re looking into Stormy Daniels, they’re looking into Michael Cohen, they’re looking into Karen McDougal, you know, anything that they could have on Donald Trump." The recording was allegedly created two months before the presidential election and was seized in April when the FBI raided Cohen’s Manhattan office. The model, Karen McDougal, alleges her relationship with Trump started in 2006. In the final months of the presidential campaign, McDougal sold her story to the National Enquirer for $150,000, but the paper never published the story. David Pecker, chairman of the publication's parent company, is a close ally of Trump. Trump’s new personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, confirmed the contents of the tape and that the president didn’t know he was being recorded. He also said the recordings show that Trump didn’t know about the National Enquirer’s payments to McDougal. “Nothing in that conversation suggests that he had any knowledge of it in advance,” Giuliani told the New York Times. The Justice Department is investigating whether Cohen’s payments to silence women claiming relationships with Trumpーmost prominently adult film actress Stormy Danielsーviolated campaign finance laws. They are also investigating whether Cohen had a hand in the deal between McDougal and the National Enquirer that effectively silenced her. The tape highlights how important Cohen is not just for the federal investigation into campaign finance but also for Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. Cohen has long been Trump’s trusted fixer who got front row access to all of the president’s sensitive dealings. For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/former-trump-lawyer-reportedly-recorded-conversations-about-paying-playboy-model).
