Nothing to see here

Presidential candidate Donald Trump is heard on tape discussing with his attorney Michael Cohen how they would buy the rights to a Playboy model's story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier.

[...]

The recording offers the public a glimpse at the confidential discussions between Trump and Cohen, and it confirms the man who now occupies the Oval Office had contemporaneous knowledge of a proposal to buy the rights to the story of Karen McDougal, a woman who has alleged she had an extramarital affair with Trump about a decade ago.

[...]

The recording, which was provided to CNN by Cohen's attorney Lanny Davis, was made in September 2016.

[...]

The audio recording of Trump and Cohen relates to whether Trump should buy the rights of the story from American Media, which paid McDougal $150,000 in August 2016 for her story about an alleged 10 month affair with Trump. The story was never published by AMI.

  CNN

The audio is provided at that CNN link.  I like the part where Trump shouts out an aside to someone, "Get me a coke, please."

Here's what Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, told CNN's Chris Cuomo:

Davis later added: "Ladies and gentlemen, if you voted for Donald Trump, listen to the tape and ask yourself: Is Donald Trump lying when he said he didn't use the word 'cash' and accuses Michael Cohen of using the word 'cash'? Cohen has been disparaged. Cohen has been insulted and called all sorts of things by people around Donald Trump."

[...]

"What do they fear, Chris? Why am I representing him? They fear that he has the truth about Donald Trump. He will someday speak the truth about Donald Trump. The truth is that when Donald Trump said 'cash,' which Rudy Giuliani knows that only drug dealers and mobsters talk about cash, it was, you heard Michael Cohen ... say what? 'No, no, no, no.'"

Is that a clear admission that Giuliani, Trump and Cohen are drug dealers or mobsters?

"There's no way the President is going to be setting up a corporation and then using cash, unless you're a complete idiot," Giuliani said on Fox News Tuesday night.

If the shoe fits.

When the existence of the apparent deal with AMI was first reported by The Wall Street Journal just days before the election, the campaign said that the President was unaware of anything relating to a McDougal payoff, and Hope Hicks—then a spokeswoman—denied that Trump even had an affair with McDougal. But the recording, made two months earlier, suggests otherwise.

[...]

"I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David," Cohen said in the recording, likely a reference to American Media head David Pecker.

When financing comes up again later in the conversation, Trump interrupts Cohen asking, "What financing?" according to the recording. When Cohen tells Trump, "We'll have to pay," Trump is heard saying "pay with cash" but the audio is muddled and it's unclear whether he suggests paying with cash or not paying. Cohen says, "no, no" but it is not clear what is said next.

Whatever is said, it's clear that, contrary to what Trump and Giuliani have been saying, Trump knew about the McDougal issue. It belies their contention (that was obviously bullshit all along) that Cohen took care of all the issues with alleged Trump sexual relationships without discussing what to do about them with Trump.

"There's no indication of any crime being committed on this tape," Giuliani said on Fox News Channel Tuesday night.

Whoever said Trump's affairs and payoffs was criminal?

Clean-up on aisle one.



Yeah, I see a dud, too.

But, there's rumbling in farm country.  That must be addressed.







The phrase is "nipping at your heels" - as in a dog.  Not "snipping".  What snips at your heels?

Wait!  He's just seen Fox & Friends...



What kind of lawyer?  The slimey kind that works for a slimey client who's a well-known liar who stiffs contractors and treats his lawyer like shit.  That's what kind.  Maybe Cohen's not as dumb as he looks.

What I don't understand - and I'd really like to know - is why Trump's lawyers waived attorney-client privilege on this tape, even after the Special Master who was assigned to review all the material seized from Cohen by the FBI ruled that it was privileged. Unless something else is so bad they're hoping this particular shiny object will distract everyone from whatever that is.

And, by the way, I don't see where Trump has made any mention of the wildfire tragedy happening in Greece.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 8pm:



Indeed.  They just banned a CNN reporter from a press event.