Cohen recording

Trump slams Cohen for 'perhaps illegal' recording

The president also criticized the FBI's April raid on his longtime lawyer's office and residence.

By QUINT FORGEY

President Donald Trump on Saturday bashed his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, for secretly recording their conversation about payments to a former Playboy model two months before the 2016 election.

But he also criticized the April FBI raid on Cohen's office and residence that led to law enforcement officials' seizure of the tape.

"Inconceivable that the government would break into a lawyer’s office (early in the morning) - almost unheard of," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Even more inconceivable that a lawyer would tape a client - totally unheard of & perhaps illegal. The good news is that your favorite President did nothing wrong!"

A lawyer taping a client is not illegal in New York, which has a “one-party consent” law.

While the tape, as well as a lawyer’s notes, are privileged and non-public, a source familiar with Cohen's legal strategy said, “it is the client who owns the privilege, and not the lawyer. In this specific instance, it was Trump who waived the privilege after Special Master [Barbara] Jones ruled the tape was privileged. Team Trump actually contacted the judge and waived the privilege, thus, permitting Rudy [Giuliani] the ability to release his version of the tape’s content. It is ironic that Trump would complain about a privileged tape that would not have been released and then chooses to make it public himself.”

Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, told The New York Times on Friday that Cohen had made the recording, but maintained the payment Cohen and Trump discussed was never made, and Trump had no prior knowledge of it.

“Nothing in that conversation suggests that he had any knowledge of it in advance,” Giuliani told the Times. “In the big scheme of things, it’s powerful exculpatory evidence."

Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, confirmed Friday on Twitter that the tape existed, writing: “Obviously, there is an ongoing investigation, and we are sensitive to that. But suffice it to say that when the recording is heard, it will not hurt ⁦@MichaelCohen212⁩. Any attempt at spin can not change what is on the tape."

The president is spending the weekend at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey. He's scheduled to return to the White House on Sunday.