Federal prosecutors received 12 audio tapes seized from Cohen

Federal prosecutors have received 12 audio tapes seized from President Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen.

Special master Barbara Jones, who was assigned to review items the FBI seized from Cohen earlier this year, said the tapes were released to federal investigators and prosecutors on Friday, though the content of the tapes is unclear.

Last week, the news broke that Cohen had secretly recorded a conversation with Trump in 2016 in which they discussed payments to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Trump.

{mosads}Michael Avenatti, the attorney of another woman who says she had an affair with Trump, adult-film star Stormy Daniels, said last Wednesday that Cohen has tapes with “inappropriate conversations” between himself and Trump.

“Our understanding is there are countless hours of recordings of conversations between Michael Cohen and others,” Avenatti said. “The conversations include conversations with Mr. Trump.”

Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 as a part of a nondisclosure agreement signed weeks before the 2016 presidential election. She is currently suing him in an attempt to void that agreement.

Daniels is also suing both Cohen and Trump for defamation after the president accused her of lying about their relationship. 

Cohen is reportedly under investigation for possible campaign finance and bank fraud violations, including related to that $130,000 payment.

When the FBI raided Cohen’s properties in April, Trump reacted with fury, tweeting that “attorney–client privilege is dead!” Since then, however, he has sought distance from his former attorney, who said in an interview earlier this month that his “first loyalty” belongs to his family and his country, not the president. 

“My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will,” Cohen told ABC News. “I put family and country first.”