Washington, July 25 (IANS) US President Donald Trump blasted his former attorney Michael Cohen on Wednesday after a secret audio of a recording between the two about making a payment to Playboy playmate Karen McDougal was aired.
In the 2016 conversion aired on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time" on Tuesday, Trump, then-US presidential candidate, and Cohen could be heard discussing how they would buy the rights to McDougal's story about an alleged affair she had with the leader years earlier.
Trump denies the affair and took to Twitter in the morning slamming Cohen. "What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad! Is this a first, never heard of it before? Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things?
"I hear there are other clients and many reporters that are taped - can this be so? Too bad!" Trump tweeted.
Court filings said federal prosecutors have 12 recordings from Cohen and according to CNN, the recording with Trump was among those 12.
The tape's release made a further dent in the relationship between the President and Cohen, who was the former's previous steadfast supporter, personal attorney and long time confidant.
Cohen is under criminal investigation by the US attorney's office in Manhattan for his personal financial dealings, including the payment he made to porn actress Stormy Daniels on Trump's behalf before the election.
However, he has not been charged with any wrongdoing in Daniels case.
In the audio, Trump and Cohen discussed other matters, including an attempt by the New York Times to unseal the records from the President's first divorce and mentioning pastor Mark Burns, a Trump supporter.
Cohen's attorney Lanny Davis provided CNN the September 2016 recording and said Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani had been "falsely disparaging" Cohen.
Giuliani contended that the recording would not harm Trump after news came last week that the recording of Trump and Cohen was among those obtained by prosecutors.
Trump, however, expressed anger over the recording last weekend on Twitter, calling both the seizure of the recording and Cohen's creation of it "inconceivable".
