Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen made tapes of conversations about Stormy Daniels, and some of those tapes have Trump’s voice on them—at least according to Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti, who made the announcement following a hearing Wednesday morning regarding Cohen’s criminal case, which is being heard in a New York federal court.
“As a result of our efforts, there was a shocking admission made in court today,” Avenatti said in a statement to the media following the hearing. “Just like the Nixon tapes, we now have what I will refer to as the 'Trump Tapes'.”
According to Avenatti’s account of the hearing, Cohen’s lawyer Stephen Ryan “admitted that there are audio recordings that Michael Cohen was taping for years... Not only do they exist but they are under lock and key, and some of them relate to my client and her attorney-client privileged communications.”
Later on Wednesday, Avenatti said that it was his “understanding” that Trump’s own voice is recorded on the secret tapes. But while Daniels herself is not recorded on the tapes, potentially improper conversations about her between Cohen and Daniels previous attorney, Keith Davidson may be present in the recorded material.
“These tapes relate directly to the conduct of the president’s right-hand attorney, relate directly to issues considering my client, attorney-client privileges that were disclosed by Mr. Cohen improperly by her prior counsel,” Avenatti said during an appearance on the MSNBC cable news network. “We have every reason to believe that the tapes include communications between Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen that don’t have anything to do with the rendering of legal advice. So those are not privileged communications.”
Avenatti called for the secret tapes to be released to the public.
“The Trump Tapes that were just disclosed in court as a result of our efforts should be released immediately,” Avenatti wrote on his Twitter account following the hearing. “Not tomorrow, not next week or next month. Now.”
But Avenatti also suffered a setback during the Wednesday hearing, withdrawing his motion to become a part of the Cohen criminal case, to make sure that Daniels’ interests are protected, after Judge Kimba Wood told him that in order to be admitted to the case, he would be required to curtail his “publicity tour.”
“I say 'publicity tour' not in a derogatory sense,” the judge told Avenatti. “You’re entitled to publicity; I can’t stop you. Unless you’re participating in a matter before me.”
Photos by Max Goldberg/Gary/Wikimedia Commons
