One of lawyer Michael Cohen’s surreptitiously recorded tapes was of a conversation with a CNN reporter in which he said paying off Stormy Daniels was an act he did “on my own,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the newspaper wrote Wednesday evening that Mr. Cohen, President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, recorded a nearly two-hour conversation with CNN anchorman Chris Cuomo.
In the conversation with Mr. Cuomo, Mr. Cohen discusses the $130,000 paid to Ms. Daniels, the porn actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford and who claimed to have had an affair a decade ago with the future president.
“I did it on my own,” Mr. Cohen said, “people familiar with the matter” told the Journal about the conversation, which took place after the Journal reported in January 2018 that Mr. Cohen had paid the adult-film star in a non-disclosure agreement.
Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Mr. Cohen, told the Journal it had been “Michael Cohen’s habit for many years to record conversations in lieu of taking notes. He had no intention of ever publicizing such tapes nor any intention to ever deceive anyone.”
The tape, one of a dozen tapes Mr. Cohen made of conversations about Mr. Trump, was seized in an April FBI raid on Mr. Cohen’s home and offices.
“We can’t comment on a tape that hasn’t been released,” said former prosecutor Rudolph W. Giuliani, the public face of Mr. Trump’s legal team.
The Journal reported that during their conversation, the lawyer assured Mr. Cuomo that he wasn’t taping it and that their talk was off the record.
According to the Journal, Mr. Cuomo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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