After the release of a secret 2016 audio recording of President Trump and Michael Cohen Tuesday night, Rudy Giuliani tried to do damage control, saying the tape is "hard to hear" and "open to interpretation."
The conversation between Trump and Cohen was about Cohen buying the rights to a story sold to American Media Inc., publisher of the National Enquirer, by Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Trump that ended in 2007. AMI paid McDougal $150,000 for her story, which never ran. Cohen is heard saying he needs to "open up a company for that transfer of all that info regarding our friend David," likely referring to David Pecker, AMI's CEO.
After Cohen says on the tape, "We'll have to pay," Trump responds, "Pay with cash," but Giuliani told Fox News host Laura Ingraham the tape is "hard to hear," and "there is no way the president is going to be talking about setting up a corporation then using cash, unless you're a complete idiot, and again, the president is not an idiot." The main issue, he said, is that "it's outrageous that someone would tape his client surreptitiously." The White House has since released its own transcript of the tape, and claims Trump says, "Don't pay with cash."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Giuliani also spoke to The Washington Post, and said the tape does not show Trump knew about the McDougal deal. "That's open to interpretation and we can have a fight about that," he said. "To me, it sounds like Cohen is explaining something to [Trump] that he doesn't understand. He doesn't seem that familiar with anything. There is nothing to indicate that he knew anything in advance." The Wall Street Journal reported right before the election about the payment to McDougal, and when reached for comment at the time, Trump's campaign spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said, "We have no knowledge of any of this." Catherine Garcia
-
October 5 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailoutTalking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoffSpeed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsionSpeed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
-
Oregon sues to stop Trump military deploymentSpeed Read The president wants to send the National Guard into Portland
