ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington, US | July 25

Two months before the 2016 election, Donald Trump and his lawyer discussed plans to pay for a former Playboy model’s story of an alleged affair, according to a secretly recorded tape released amid an escalating feud between the president and his longtime personal attorney.

The audio recording, made by Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, appears to contradict the Trump campaign’s later claim that the president knew nothing about a media company’s purchase of model Karen McDougal’s story or any efforts to keep it from becoming public.

The tape captures the soonto-be elected president and his lawyer discussing logistics of financing and whether to “pay with cash,” although the sound is muffled and Trump’s instructions on that are unclear. Lawyers for Trump and Cohen are disputing what was said.

The tape was provided to CNN on Tuesday by Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, and signals a new level of open hostility between the president and the man who once described himself as Trump’s “fixer.” Cohen, who is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud and campaign finance violations, has shown a growing willingness to reveal damaging information.

On Wednesday, Trump vented on Twitter about the release of the surreptitious tape.

“What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad!” he said. “Is this a first, never heard of it before? Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things?”.