Free Republic

There are at least 12 audio tapes the government seized from President Donald Trump's former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen, a Monday court filing revealed. Special master Barbara Jones wrote in a court filing to US District Judge Kimba Wood on Monday that privilege claims were withdrawn over 12 audio tapes in review — an action that could've been taken by either Cohen, Trump, or the Trump Organization. As special master, Jones is tasked with overseeing the document review for privilege designations in the ongoing Cohen investigation taking place in the Southern District of New York. Because the parties released their...

On Friday, first lady Melania Trump responded to Michael Cohen's "Trump tapes," the existence of which was reported earlier in the day. The New York Times reported that Cohen, Donald Trump's former attorney, secretly recorded a conversation wherein the two discussed making payments to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who claims to have an affair with Trump. In a statement Friday, however, Melania refused to address the reports, and made clear that she won't be doing so at any point in the future. "Mrs. Trump remains focused on her role as a mother and as First Lady of the...

President Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, secretly recorded a conversation with Mr. Trump two months before the presidential election in which they discussed payments to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump, according to lawyers and others familiar with the recording. The F.B.I. seized the recording this year during a raid on Mr. Cohen’s office. The Justice Department is investigating Mr. Cohen’s involvement in paying women to tamp down embarrassing news stories about Mr. Trump ahead of the 2016 election. Prosecutors want to know whether that violated federal campaign finance laws, and any...