Early Tuesday evening, I read this story about how Donald Trump likes to stay in his ridiculous little bubble of misinformation and fascist messaging, to the point where he completely RAGED at Melania Trump because she was watching CNN on Air Force One. He demanded that Air Force One’s TVs only show Fox News. Because he considers CNN “fake news.” With that in mind, Michael Cohen’s lawyer released the audio recording of then-candidate Trump speaking to Cohen about making payments to Playmate Karen McDougal. This is the complete audio, surrounded by CNN commentary:
The Washington Post did an annotated transcript, which you can read here. People talk about the banality of evil, but how about the banality of corruption? Trump is evil and corrupt… and banal. The “David” they’re referencing is David Pecker, the publisher of AMI/the National Enquirer. Pecker had already paid for McDougal’s story and Trump and Cohen are discussing the payment to the third party – Pecker – to keep her story under wraps. Trump suggests paying cash, so there will be no paper record. Cohen corrects him, saying “no, check.”
Beyond what’s on the tape and how seedy and mobster-lite it is to discuss paying off your mistress, it’s worth noting that DERP, Trump lied about this, Rudy Giuliani lied about this, they all lied about this. The story was that Trump only found out about McDougal and the Enquirer a few months ago. That’s not the case.
I’m not going to pretend that all of this is the most incriminating and disgusting part of the Trump presidency. Of course it isn’t. But just stop and think about what Congressional Republicans would have done if they had a tape of a Democratic president talking about paying off his mistress using a third-party tabloid.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, PCN and WENN.
Must-see TV!
Yes. And this is just the first of many tapes, so who knows what the rest will reveal?
I am a sound engineer and this tape has been cut / spliced. Listen to it around 2:41. Not their voices…the background / white noise. There is an obvious cut there.
Well that is interesting! I wonder what was cut? Was this admissible evidence? I’m sure the court has the whole thing?
I know this is mean but Sweet Potato Saddam is so … offensively ugly.
Even Richard Nixon had (to me at the height of Watergate) more integrity that this piece of garbage.
For all his shady lying and denials, Nixon respected the office of President. He was brought down by “the Plumbers” who were blackmailing Nixon as they were sitting in prison for breaking and entering the Watergate. Some of his “people” were pretty unsavory characters, but not on the level drump has surrounded himself with.
drump is nothing short of a monster, a Russian asset. He is truly evil–I don’t say that lightly. Just yesterday he screamed and urged those at the VFW Convention to boo the press. His appearance is actually morphing into a reptile with patchy skin, head coming out of his shoulders, stiff and horrible to look at.
He has been looking like a lizard for awhile now.
the most infuriating thing to me is how perfect Barack Obama had to be all the time, so that his scandals were that he wore a tan suit or that he likes Dijon mustard. I keep coming back to how absolutely and thoroughly destroyed he would have been if he did even a tenth of the things that Trump has done.
A tenth? Try a hundreth.
He was constantly destroyed, despite having done nothing wrong.
Yes and the fact is he would NOT have done what Trump has done. Nor would any past or likely future President or most decent, intelligent human beings.
As someone said here recently, it’s hard to hear the “Imagine if Obama had done that,” because he just wouldn’t have.
And they passed a bigger budget then Obama requested. He was denied because of the deficit so that’s what they said anyway. I guess now they’re not worried about the deficit. This presidency is the biggest example of white privilege. I’m white now I finally get what they mean by white privilege.
That’s because the things they could have legitimately criticized him for were either actions their candidates were guilty of themselves or reflected policies they couldn’t truly criticize without highlighting the absurdity of their own position. Obama was, in many ways, mirrored more of the values of a 90s centrist Republican than he does a progressive liberal. The right has just gone so far right and so conservative that they seem miles apart.
Funny how crazy eyes Ghouliani completely twisted the words but was too chicken to be on Cuomo Prime time to prove and defend it. I heard Trump say “cash,” and after Cohen said “nonono” Trump said “check.” I heard the recording a million times last night and this morning, but never heard it the way Ghouliani wanted it to be
Can not stand Fire Marshal Bill, heard him on a news clip spewing his bullsh*t this morning and he is just as delusional as the rest of the swamp dweller in the white house
I think we all (myself included) need to step back from the “imagine if Obama had done (insert horrible thing here)”, because it doesn’t matter anymore. There is no low too deep for 45 to sink to and the base eats it all up. It is all good with them.
This tape is a drop in the water. No one is going to care about him paying off the mistress. Most sane people knew he was lying and the rest don’t care. Cohen is using the least inflammable evidence to get the focus off himself.
I’ve been saying that since the start. Inserting Obama just gives his twisted supporters something to attack, makes it political. We need to emphasize that NO president has ever done this stuff, that no president would ever do this stuff, that it isn’t good, that it is wrong. This is NOT normal. This is NOT the way it should be.
I said something similar, albeit less eloquently, above. I should have scrolled before commenting. This false equivalence commentary drives me crazy.
ITA.
While the tapes are additional fodder in the end many people don’t care.
White evangelicals who voted for him in volume do not care. In fact, according to one of their leaders there is very little Trump can do that would cause his support to falter – and a significant portion agreed with him. The articles on that were sad.
So there you go. So many simply do not care.
This weekend I saw something about an evangelical leader saying that he supported Reagan and that Reagan was a womanizer, too…so that made Trump OK. Heavy sigh.
I wonder, if the rumors of his penchant for teenage models proves true, if THAT will be enough? if it’s proven true that he actually DID rape that 13 year old?
prob not, as they did back an actual pedo (Roy Moore).
@whatWHAT. Maybe if he were caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy(thanks Edwin Edwards), but still doubtful.
Yeah we’ve reached a point where even GW Bush would not have gotten away with 10% of what Trump has done in the last 7 days. Amongst Republicans, Trump has the highest rating out of *any* Republican President in modern times.
But what I have noticed about his die-hard cult is they love him the most for “owning the Libs”. So it’s not just about loving Trump, it’s about hating the liberals and “watching their heads explode” when he does unprecedented things. That is why you can’t convince them that Trump is bad. His misbehavior is an appeal to them. They “morals” were as deep as a river in the dessert. The coming trade war where both his wealthy and poor cult members start to feel the burn is really the only thing that might make them turn on him. And independents.
GW got away with plenty, he’s lucky he’s not facing a war crimes tribunal or something
But they will blame liberals for any negative outcome they personally experience. This ass-hat committed treason in a televised press conference with Putin and no did a damn thing. There is literally nothing he can do that becomes the wake up call to the repugs. So bfd regarding this tape and all the other mountains of evidence on him. Starting to believe he will be king for life. I have never hated someone or a situation so much in my life. It truly sickens.
Yes to this!! My family is mostly Trump supporters and most of what they rant about is not what good Trump has done. It’s still about the liberals and the hate they have for them and Obama. They are still just as angry as they were during Obama which I don’t understand at all.
I’ve noticed this about his cult too. It doesn’t really sound like the mentality or behavior of people ready for bigly, grown-up responsibilities such as voting rights, does it? This is one of the main reasons why wasting energy trying to find the right ‘tone’ that will reach deplorables’ hearts is a wasted effort.
The beginning of the tape “okay, honey, …I’m proud of you.” Hi, Princess Nagini!
Ugh and ew.
But wait! Isn’t that misuse of campaign funds? Can’t he be indeighted for that?
I read that it’s a possible felony.
I think the most interesting is the part that refers to timing..shutting down the release of divorce transcript for a certain time ..obviously until after the election..he didn’t care before, and he never tried to pay off the idiot mistress for years..it’s the timing. Since the wh is altering his putin transcript and video, I imagine they’ve altered this one to put out for the faux crowd ..oh, they have..they’re calling it enhanced..
Altering the Putin transcript and video is stupid. The world watched, heard, and read it already. We all know Putin said “yes,” when he was asked if he wanted Trump elected. Too late, but Trumps team will stoop to the stupidest levels to try a fix his messes
This is disgusting but all things considered, not at all shocking.
It’s been said here before, and it baffles me: why is Trump getting a pass on such dispicable, treasonous and immoral behaviour and dialogue, when past president have been impeached for far less?
What is it going to take, America? I honestly feel an impeachment may help the USA start to rebuild credibility on the world stage. I just got back from Germany last week (I’m Canadian) and it’s both sad and scary how Europeans think so little of America these days…
I emailed Paul Ryan, asking just that. I received a response telling me that the speaker is too busy protecting me from Muslim terrorists and people swarming our border. Border singular.
Hey Light Purple, that’s fascinating.
Border isngular indeed. We have the largest undefended boarder in the world, have been each other’s largest trading partner for a long time (southbound for sure), yet here we are in a trade war.
I just understand the double standard of Trump supporters these days. It’s so sad because Americans are generally good people, and all the global goodwill you once had is gone. The problem isn’t Muslims!
The real victim here is Karen McDougal. Now the world knows she was sleeping with Trump. She must be mortified.
She looked so doe-eyed and innocent during her interview earlier this year, but I was not convinced she’s regretful. She flew around meeting him for a year or so, and claimed it was mutual love.
If KM still thinks he’s a great person, then she’s definitely not sympathetic in my book. Stormy had a single fling with him and realizes what she’s dealing with.
No sympathy for her at all. She said in the interview she thought she was his only mistress and it made her sad. What a fool. She’s upset that the guy who is cheating on his pregnant wife was sleeping around. They are all, maybe except Stormi, disgusting.
If she thinks Trump is capable of loving anyone but himself she needs to seek help lol.
I have zero sympathy for her. She went on TV and tried to humanize filthy 45 so she goes right into the garbage dump with the rest of them.
She was on tv, I believe with Anderson Cooper, saying they had an affair and it lasted for about 10 months. She also apologized to wife #3 for having an affair with 45. I believe she said the affair started about 3 months after his wife gave birth to son Barron. She’s no victim, and she was paid $150,000.
I don’t think she’s a victim at all. She had no problem sleeping with the pig for almost a year even though she knew he had a wife and baby at home. The world quite often finds out about affairs celebrities have, and if she was mortified of what everyone would think, she should never have been with him in the first place. She might regret it now, but she gets no pity from me
Donnie is flipping out on Twitter about this. He’s never heard that some lawyers tape conversations? GMAFB,Donnie. So sad! Too bad!
Years ago there were rumors that he tapes conversation with people without their knowledge. Michael knew who he was dealing with. Btw, they are both con artists and liars, and we know 45 is the biggest liar of all. 🤥.
He’s a gangster using a gangster lawyer.i don’t get how he didn’t know it was possible he was being recorded
How expected loyalty from a dirty lawyer speaks to how delusional he is.
“David” in context could also refer to David Dennison, the fictitious name for trump in legal documents about his affairs. I myself have no idea.
David Packer is CEO of National Enquirer who buried the story.
It’s not Packer, it’s Pecker – with an E. The universe really does have a sense of humor.
You’re right-wasn’t wearing my reading glasses when I looked it up.🤓
Yes, I know that’s the more likely explanation, but we’ll find out more in the end – the truth will out.
Waiting for the shoe/proof to drop re. the other payoff case Cohen handled. The one we’ve been told was Broidy forcing his mistress to have an abortion. Using the same boiler plate and names as those on the Trump/Daniels documents.
I’m just waiting for for more tapes to be leaked.
Honestly I’m tired of this story. No one – especially his base – cares that he has had affairs, one-night stands, cheated on his wife, paid off porn stars. Let’s face it, we’d all be shocked if he hadn’t. Unless he broke some campaign finance laws ( and maybe even if he did) this story will go nowhere and is just a distraction.
I am much more concerned about the fact that yesterday the WH transcripts of the Helsinki summit completely omitted the reporter asking Putin if he wanted Trump to win and if he (Putin) put operatives in place to help that happen. To which Putin replied ” yes I did”. That is gone from the transcripts as though we never saw it happen.
This then led to Trump’s tweet yesterday suggesting that Russia would definitely want the democrats to win the mid terms and would be working towards helping them. He is getting his supporters to believe that if the democrats win big in the midterms it is because Russia helped them. We’re really in “1984” territory now…… “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
Last night’s cable “news” shows were giving that recording most of the air time, when it’s nowhere near as news worthy as the other topics you mention.
I keep telling myself to stop watching the “news” shows (which are more like entertainment network programming these days). If their viewership drops, maybe they’ll quit following the distracting reality show script the clown and circus throw them each day.
I had to stop watching for the reasons you mention Christin. All this breathless reporting and massaging their own fascination with 45 and not reporting news or the real damage they are doing. I got tired of 15,000 takes on the same tweet. I used to watch Rachel religiously before tucking in for the night but I stopped. It isn’t against her but I am just tired of punditry.
Probably, Michael Cohen learned to record Trump after years of watching him mess with people that did his dirty work thinking this would keep him out of trouble with the authorities. It is like a page out of the God Father.
Although Trump is president, I don’t think the GOP views him as a politician. I think they see him as a figurehead, more like the British monarchy to Canada. It tells me that the presidency itself is becoming more of a symbolic role and that the real power is held elsewhere.
What a shit show. He’s a bum. And a giant disgrace and embarrassment.
They are all pathetic. Trump, Cohen, Guilani, the girlfriend, Melania, and ‘the base who supports this’…….
No wonder Melania was watching CNN…………she’s getting the scoop and getting ready to contact a lawyer.
I’m beyond wanting impeachment or jail. I hope they ALL suffer unimaginable, painful destruction. Makes me hope there really is a Hell.
Trumps star on the Walk of Fame was smashed to pieces this morning. WTF does he have one for anyway?
He got it for The Apprentice. It’s been vandalized several times in the last two years. I saw it just before the election and someone had built a small wall around it.
Agreed that this tape is not so damning that it will take him down (I wish). It’s one piece in a very large legal puzzle that Mueller’s team is putting together. I can pretty much guarantee they have built sophisticated timelines and spreadsheets tying each known fact to its supporting documentation/witness – and including yet-unknown facts that they believe to be true that hopefully will be confirmed with documentation, testimony, or interviews. It’s an extremely time-consuming process, but if you’re going to prove up a legal investigation this massive, you have to do the leg work. I can’t underscore enough that the wheels of justice turn slow, but this team has SO much good evidence already gathered – and there’s a lot they probably already have that none us yet know about. It will all come out, just not as soon as we all would like.
Emoluments case got the green light to move forward.
Good. These kinds of things keep hope alive.
Hmmm. Wonder if Ivanka shutting down her company is related?
Trump learned from his evil mentor, Roy Cohn, that tapes can be used to sensationalize, confuse and distract the public. This seems to be what is going on here. He wants us to look away from Trump-Russia stories. Also, he would much rather have us talking about adult mistresses being paid to stay quiet, instead of the rape allegations that have been brought by women who say he abused them when they were underage. Trump is most likely a pedophile. He is certainly a traitor.