According to a just released story in The New York Times, Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, secretly recorded a conversation with Trump two months before the presidential election and they discussed payments to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Trump. The Times says,

The F.B.I. seized the recording this year during a raid on Mr. Cohen’s office. The Justice Department is investigating Mr. Cohen’s involvement in paying women to tamp down embarrassing news stories about Mr. Trump ahead of the 2016 election. Prosecutors want to know whether that violated federal campaign finance laws, and any conversation with Mr. Trump about those payments would be of keen interest to them.

The recording’s existence further draws Mr. Trump into questions about tactics he and his associates used to keep aspects of his personal and business life a secret. And it highlights the potential legal and political danger that Mr. Cohen represents to Mr. Trump. Once the keeper of many of Mr. Trump’s secrets, Mr. Cohen is now seen as increasingly willing to consider cooperating with prosecutors.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, confirmed in a telephone conversation on Friday that Mr. Trump had discussed the payments with Mr. Cohen on the tape but said the payment was ultimately never made. He said the recording was less than two minutes and demonstrated that the president had done nothing wrong.

“Nothing in that conversation suggests that he had any knowledge of it in advance,” Mr. Giuliani said, adding that Mr. Trump had directed Mr. Cohen that if he were to make a payment related to the woman, write a check, rather than sending cash, so it could be properly documented.

“In the big scheme of things, it’s powerful exculpatory evidence,” Mr. Giuliani.

Karen McDougal, the former model, says she began a nearly yearlong affair withTrump in 2006, shortly after Melania, gave birth to their son Barron. McDougal sold her story to The National Enquirer for $150,000 during the final months of the presidential campaign, but the tabloid sat on the story, which in publishing circles is referred to as

“catch and kill”

This effectively silenced McDougal for the rest of the campaign.

David J. Pecker, the chairman of The Enquirer’s parent company, is a friend of Trump’s, and McDougal has accused Cohen of secretly taking part in the deal. That allegation is now part of the F.B.I. investigation.

When The Wall Street Journal revealed the existence of the payment days before the election, Trump’s campaign spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said,

“We have no knowledge of any of this” and that the affair was “totally untrue.”

Mr. Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny J. Davis, said when asked about the tape.

“We have nothing to say on this matter.”

As they say, tell it to the judge. Better yet, tell Robert Mueller.

(Photo, YouTube; via NY Times)