Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer Michael Cohen is no hero, but he still has credibility, despite the President's attempts to pin him as a liar, said a prominent Democratic congressman Friday.

"Cohen is not a, you know, a heroic figure, but he does have credibility," Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Virginia, told CNN's Jim Sciutto on "The Situation Room."

Connolly said that an audio recording obtained by CNN , which offered a glimpse at the confidential discussions between Cohen and Trump about buying rights to a Playboy model's story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier, "completely demolished Trump's denial" of the affair and "hush payments."

"We hear him actually saying on the tape, 'Pay him in cash' -- the President of the United States. And so, I think Cohen has every reason at this point to actually be telling the truth," Connolly said.

CNN reported Thursday that Cohen claims Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

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