During the trial of former President Donald Trump’s hush money case, jurors were presented with a recording discovered on Michael Cohen’s phone. The recording captures a conversation between Trump and Cohen, discussing an alleged scheme to provide payment to a former Playboy model who had come forward with claims of an extramarital affair with Trump.
During the morning of September 6, 2016, an intriguing conversation unfolded. This conversation was brought to light during the testimony of Douglas Daus, an expert witness responsible for handling electronic devices for the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Cohen, who served as Trump’s former attorney, made a covert recording of their conversation. The recording, which spans approximately two minutes, captures Cohen and Trump discussing a potential $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal. The purpose of this payment would be to ensure her silence regarding the alleged affair, an accusation that Trump has consistently denied.
During the call, Cohen can be heard expressing the need to establish a company for the purpose of transferring information related to their acquaintance, David. It appears that Cohen is referring to David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer.
Cohen appeared to discuss a shell company he had established to initially compensate American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, before the agreement was finalized.
During the phone conversation, Cohen discussed his conversation with Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the Trump Organization, about arranging the funding for the project.
“So, how much do we have to pay for this? One-fifty?” Trump asks in the recording.
During the conversation, Trump proposed the idea of making the payment in cash.
Cohen quickly dismissed the suggestion, saying, “No, no, no, no, no, I got it.”
American Media Inc. paid McDougal $150,000 in the summer of 2016 to keep her story a secret. However, Trump did not reimburse them as initially agreed upon because Pecker withdrew from the deal.
During the cross-examination, Trump’s attorney Emil Bove aimed to cast doubt on the reliability of the information found on Cohen’s phone. Bove suggested that the material may have been tampered with at some point in the chain of custody, raising concerns about its integrity.
Bove also raised a question to Daus regarding the abrupt ending of the recording.
Daus mentioned that he listened to the recording and noticed that another call was about to come in, but he couldn’t determine the exact reason why the call ended.
According to Bove, the reason for the cut-off is not known to you personally.
Daus assured prosecutor Christopher Conroy that he had not witnessed any signs of tampering with Cohen’s phone during the redirect.
Conroy inquired if there were any indications of tampering or manipulation in the data he had retrieved regarding the recording.
Daus denied the accusation, stating, “I did not.”
During the trial, it is anticipated that the recording will resurface, possibly when Cohen is summoned to provide testimony.