US President Donald Trump was secretly taped by his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen discussing payments to a porn star model, with whom he allegedly had an affair, according to a report by The New York Times.
The President’s former lawyer, Cohen is being investigated over hush payments made to women in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan, New York are now investigating whether the payments violated campaign finance laws or other financial crimes.
The recording was part of the things the FBI seized earlier this year during an early morning raid on Cohen’s office. The raid was part of the Mueller investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 US. election.
It is not yet clear how much damage the recording could cause for Trump, especially with the believe by prosecutors that Cohen was willing to co-operate with investigators.
Trumps personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani has confirmed the authenticity of the recording but insists that the payments discussed in the recording was never made
The playboy model in the centre of it all, Karen McDougal, says she had a months long affair with Trump shortly after Melania gave birth to Trump’s youngest son, Baron. Trump also had an affair with Pornstar, Stormy Daniels during the same period. Daniel’s was eventually paid $130,000 by Cohen to keep quiet about the affair.
Trump initially denied knowledge of the deal that paid off Daniels, but later said, Cohen personally paid the porn star, only for him to change it again and say that Cohen was repaid.