American prosecutors are examining 12 audio recordings made by President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, they seized during an April raid of the attorney’s home, office, and hotel room.
A retired judge who is determining which portions of the seized materials can be reviewed by prosecutors, said that “the parties” do not object to the government listening to the contents of the 12 tapes.
It is not made explicit who the judge is referring to in mentioning “the parties”, but it is thought to mean Mr Trump and Mr Cohen.
The news of the 12 recordings comes after Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, confirmed Mr Cohen had taped conversations he had with Mr Trump where they discussed payments to a former Playboy model who has claimed she had an affair with Mr Trump.
That disclosure, on Friday, spurred speculation that Mr Cohen may have taped other conversations he had with his then-client.
The recordings were seized alongside other documents of Mr Cohen’s during a raid stemming from a federal investigation into the attorney’s business dealings, and his role in paying hush money to women who have claimed they had affairs or relationships with Mr Trump.
In the recording revealed last week, Mr Trump and Mr Cohen can be heard discussing a plan to buy the rights to claims made by Karen McDougal, the former Playboy model, from American Media Inc, according to The Washington Post.
That company its the parent company of the National Enquirer, a tabloid generally thought to be supportive of Mr Trump.
American Media Inc had reportedly purchased the rights to the story from McDougal for $150,000.
The judge’s court filing does not specify what is on the tapes provided to the US government, and it is not certain that Mr Trump is featured speaking in any of the other tapes provided to prosecutors.
Michael Avenatti, who is representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels — who has also alleged a relationship with Mr Trump previously — told Bloomberg the judge’s order “confirmed” there are “multiple recordings”, which he first claimed in May.
