Lawyer releases tape of Trump, Cohen discussing buying rights to ex-Playboy model's story

Michael Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, gave CNN on Tuesday the audio recording of a September 2016 conversation between Cohen and Donald Trump regarding buying the rights to a former Playboy model's story about the affair she said she had with Trump in 2007.

On the tape, Cohen, President Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, is heard telling Trump he plans on opening a company to finance the purchase of the rights to her story from American Media, parent company of The National Enquirer. American Media paid Karen McDougal $150,000 in August 2016 for her story, but it never ran. Trump is heard asking, "What financing?" and when Cohen says, "We'll have to pay," Trump responds, "Pay with cash," but after that, the audio is unclear. Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, says Trump never made a payment to McDougal.

The tape also includes a brief conversation about a New York Times request to unseal the records from Trump's divorce from his first wife, Ivana; a pastor working for the Trump team; and polling numbers. Listen to the audio below. Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.