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
-
JD Vance wades into choppy religious waters about wife UshaTHE EXPLAINER By emphasizing his hope that the Second Lady convert to Christianity, the Vice President of the United States is inviting controversy from across the religious spectrum
-
One great cookbook: ‘My Bombay Kitchen’The Week Recommends A personal, scholarly wander through a singular cuisine
-
Is AI to blame for recent job cuts?Today’s Big Question Numerous companies have called out AI for being the reason for the culling
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
