Trump, who urged his followers today to not trust their senses and just listen to him, has put out an alternative transcript of the tape.
Lanny Davis, Michael Cohen's attorney: "Listen to the tape, everyone. This is not a man shocked when Mr. Cohen said, 'we have to make payments.'" (Trump has denied any knowledge of hush payments to McDougal.)
COHEN'S ATTORNEY, LANNY DAVID: "Don't believe fake news. Don't believe fake transcripts. The tape says what it says. Nothing that Giuliani or President Trump can do can alter what's on the tape. I leave it to you."
Here's Giuliani's statement to CNN
COHEN'S LAWYER, LANNY DAVIS: "We know that Trump has lied even during the campaign when his spokesman denied 2 months after this tape that he knew anything about McDougal. Ladies & gents, if you voted for Trump, listen to the tape and ask yourself, is Donald Trump lying?"
COHEN'S ATTORNEY: "Don't believe me. Listen to the tape & ask yourself, is it right for a president before he's elected to use the word 'cash,' which drug dealers & mobsters prefer so there's no tracking... & you hear Michael say, 'no, no, no, no.' That's truth...they are afraid"
As Giuliani disputes what Trump is recorded saying on the Cohen tape, a reminder that the president -- aware that CNN was working on a story -- earlier today urged his supporters to not believe their senses & just listen to him 🤔
.@AlanDersh on Cohen: "He's going to flip. There's no question. He's now made it clear...he said he's going to tell the truth. He's going to cooperate. He's turned. He's pressed the reset button."
DERSHOWITZ: "There's no crime here. Worst-case scenario, take everything Lanny Davis says as true. There's no crime. There's no impeachable offense. This is all about how the president looks in the court of public opinion... I think they will win that fight b/c tape is ambiguous"
.@MichaelAvenatti on what he hears on Cohen tape: "I'm hearing two criminal co-conspirators conspiring on making a payment, and I'm hearing Michael Cohen being the sycophant that he is for the president."
AVENATTI: "My BS detector's off the chart right now. Cohen could have issued a written statement even if he didn't want to go on TV about what happened here. Where are the rest of the tapes? You don't get to claim love of country & being a patriot unless you do the right thing."
Rudy Giuliani is on Fox News defending Trump by saying, "There's no way the president is going to be talking about setting up a corporation and then using cash, unless you are complete idiot." 🤔
GIULIANI: "This is at most an attempt to do something. I don't know of any attempt in this category of crime that they're looking at. I don't think anyone can suggest this represents anything where the president did anything wrong."
GIULIANI: "When I urge people to do is go online and listen to your broadcast. Play it 3 times. The third time you play it, it will become clear...I have dealt with much worse tapes than this."
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
.@foxandfriends is treating team Trump's transcript of Cohen tape -- a transcript at odds with what it sounds like Trump actually said -- as if it's the gospel truth.
(It doesn't sound like Trump says, ""Don't pay with cash." Instead, it sounds like he suggests paying cash.)
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I'm going to put together a rally covering Trump's rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Follow along for clips and commentary.
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Trump is just now taking the stage, more than one hour after his speech in Harrisburg was supposed to start
Sen. Mark Kelly on Morning Joe: "[Trump] said just this week that if he's elected, we're not gonna have to vote again. I think people know what that means ... we have to make sure Kamala Harris is elected the next president."
Kelly on border bill: "This was not meeting them at the 50 yard line. This was meeting them on the 10 yard line on their side of the field... this was stopped dead in its tracks by Trump... they just want to talk about it... that's why JD Vance is at the border to take a picture"
Mark Kelly on Trump: "I mean, he's running with a guy who says that in cases of rape and incest, two wrongs don't make a right. I have a hard time understanding what's wrong with a woman who has been raped deciding to terminate a pregnancy...he was picked to overturn an election"
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HUGE response for Kamala Harris as she takes the stage in Atlanta. Listen to this!
Biden: "What's happening now is not consistent with that doctrine of separation of powers. Extremism is undermining the public's confidence in the Court's decisions ... today I am calling for three bold reforms."
Biden outlines his proposals for codifying that there is no presidential criminal immunity, term limits for SCOTUS justices, and a binding ethics code for SCOTUS
Pete Buttigieg on Fox News Sunday on the New York Times' gripes about Kamala Harris: "The idea that somebody hasn't been tested or vetted when they have been vice president of the United States for nearly four years just doesn't make any sense."
Pete Buttigieg on Fox News Sunday on Trump: "He even broke his promise to that J6 mob when he said, 'I will be at your side when you march down to the Capitol.' But he actually did keep two promises: He kept his promise to destroy the right to choose in this country, and he kept his promise on tax cuts to the rich ... he lies all the time."
Pete Buttigieg on Fox News Sunday on Biden: "Unlike Republicans who in Trump's personality cult will take a look at Donald Trump and say he's perfectly fine even though he seemed unable to tell the difference between Haley and Pelosi, even though he's rambling about electrocuting sharks and Hannibal Lecter ... we don't have that kind of warped reality on our side."
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Trump on how getting shot at affected him: "Maybe I've gotten worse, actually."