2016 ELECTION/FBI/MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “U.S. President Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, secretly recorded a conversation with Trump before the 2016 presidential election in which they discussed payments to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Trump, the New York Times reported on Friday [7-20-18]. The newspaper, citing lawyers and others familiar with the recording, said the FBI seized the recording this year during a raid on Cohen’s office. Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating Cohen for possible bank and tax fraud, and for possible campaign law violations linked to a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and other matters related to Trump’s campaign, a person familiar with the investigation has told Reuters. The FBI seized documents and files as part of that investigation, which stemmed in part from a referral by the U.S. special counsel’s office, which is looking into possible coordination during the 2016 election campaign between Trump’s aides and Russia. The existence of a recording raises further questions about the tactics Trump used to keep his personal and business life secret while he was seeking public office.”
-Reuters Staff, “Lawyer Cohen taped Trump discussing payment to Playboy model: NYT,” Reuters, July 20, 2018 8:59 am