Trump scandels and controversies

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On Friday, The New York Times reported that Cohen recorded a conversation with Trump just two months ahead of the 2016 election in which they discussed payments to former Playboy model Karen McDougal. That recording was among several the FBI seized in April when it raided Cohen's properties. Meanwhile, the tape seemed to contradict the Trump campaign's past denial of any knowledge of such payments to McDougal.

In a payment that Cohen helped negotiate, the National Enquirer purchased McDougal's story of an affair with Trump for $150,000 in August 2016. But the outlet never published the piece. That practice is known as "catch and kill," and it effectively silenced McDougal's allegations. Federal investigators had sought documents in the Cohen raids related to that payment and similar payments to other women.

David Pecker, the head of American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer, is a longtime friend of both Trump and Cohen. Citing a person familiar with the recording, The Washington Post reported Friday that in it, Cohen and Trump discussed a plan to purchase the rights to McDougal's story from Pecker's company for about $150,000.

Ken White, a criminal-defense attorney, told Business Insider that the tape "could move Trump closer to danger." "Suddenly we're not talking about whether Cohen flips and whether his testimony should be believed," White said. "Suddenly we have recorded words from Trump's own mouth about his knowledge of and participation in the hush money payments. If the discussion includes anything about doing the payments, or recording the payments, in a way that defrauds a bank or violates campaign finance law, we're off to the races."

Legal experts say Michael Cohen secretly recording Trump is bad news for him - Business Insider

• At the minimum, Trump can no longer deny that he had no knowledge of the payments.
  
• This is a possible violation of election campaign finance laws.
  
• It's also curious why Cohen taped his client in the first place, perhaps he felt it necessary to have some kind of insurance policy.