Cohen Secretly Taped Trump About Payments to Playboy Model
*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).
World Central Kitchen is Ukraine helping to feed people remaining in the country or fleeing from the Russian forces. Nate Mook, CEO for the non-profit, joined Cheddar New to discuss the efforts being made to help those in need in a very tenuous situation and how the invasion disrupted the lives of Ukrainian people."We met a young woman from Kyiv who had crossed into Poland, she had a great job, she just moved into a new apartment. She was really excited about decorating her apartment. You know, things that we all do on a day-to-day basis, and she had to just abandon her life," he said.
Bina Venkataraman, Boston Globe Editorial Page Editor & former White House disaster policy adviser joins Cheddar News to discuss the current state of the pandemic as well as Biden's handling of the crisis
Michael Li senior counsel for the Brennan Center's Democracy Program joins Cheddar News to discuss gerrymandering and how it's impacting American politics
As half a million Ukrainians fled when Russia invaded its neighbor, some civilians chose to stay in harm's way. Igor Gamaniuk, a 17-year-old Ukrainian college student, joined Cheddar News to talk about his decision to remain in his beloved country and volunteer to support soldiers with food, clothing, and supplies. "Right now people are pretty calm in my town. We are trying not to panic. But we have to be cautious because every day and every night the siren could sound and we have to move away from the window or go to the nearest shelter," Gamaniuk explained.
As Russia continues to invade Ukraine, its tech outsourcing sector is at risk. Over the past few years, the country has become a popular outsourcing destination for American and European tech companies, but now the future of that industry is uncertain. Isabelle Bousquette, enterprise technology reporter, for The Wall Street Journal, discusses what repercussions the crisis might have on the industry, and what companies are doing to mitigate possible disruptions.
In a nearly 3,700 page UN report, climate scientists outline the imminent dangers caused by climate change, saying fossil fuels are 'choking humanity.' The report calls some of the impacts of global warming 'irreversible,' warning of extreme consequences in the near future. Kristie L. Ebi, Professor of Global Health and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
