Conservative writer Bre Payton said on Monday that a tape of President Trump and his then-personal lawyer Michael Cohen discussing a payment to a former Playboy model could raise doubts about the president’s relationships with other women.
The tape featured a conversation between Cohen and Trump about making a payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who alleges she had an affair with the president.
The president has faced various allegations from women since his 2016 campaign, including claims of consensual affairs, sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior. The president has denied these accusations.
“If it is really as bad as everyone is saying that it is, I think that it raises doubts about his other denials about other women,” Payton told Hill TV’s Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.”
“Overall, this is not great, having supposedly a tape of you discussing payments with a Playboy [model], a woman that you supposedly had an interaction with. Overall, not good,” added Payton, who writes for The Federalist.
“We have to wait and see if it really is this bad because, you know, we’ve been down this road before where something has been reported about something, and that’s totally false.”
Cohen is under federal investigation over payments he made to women claiming they had affairs with Trump ahead of the 2016 election. One of those instances involved a payment of $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels, reportedly as a part of a nondisclosure agreement intended to keep her quiet about her alleged affair with Trump before the 2016 election.
Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani said on Friday that the tape will exonerate Trump.
“Nothing in that conversation suggests that he had any knowledge of it in advance,” Giuliani said. “In the big scheme of things, it’s powerful exculpatory evidence.”
— Julia Manchester
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