Michael Cohen’s apparent recording of former client President Donald Trump is certainly “frowned upon” in legal circles, though not illegal, and his endgame in possibly revealing the recording’s existence remains unclear, according to legal experts.
Cohen secretly recorded Trump while they spoke about a potential payment being made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, The New York Times reported Friday, citing attorneys and others familiar with the recording.
Though it’s presently unknown how knowledge got out, the recording was unearthed following FBI raids of Cohen’s office, hotel room and residence in April and subsequent digging by federal prosecutors.
Jeffrey Cohen, a New York family law attorney, told Newsweek Friday that it was not illegal for Cohen to record Trump due to New York’s one-party consent rule about recordings, but ethically Cohen may have crossed a line.
As to why Michael Cohen would even record his client, Jeffrey Cohen explained the man who famously said he would take a bullet for the president might have believed he needed “insurance” should Trump ever turn on him.
“The reason is that he must have smelled that he would need some cover at some point. Probably just dealing with Trump, seeing how he twists and turns, and how he turned on people, I guess [the recording was] some sort of insurance for himself if Donald Trump turned on him,” Jeffrey Cohen said.