Washington (CNN) Federal investigators in New York have "gathered more evidence than previously known" from individuals in the President's "inner circle," related to the hush-money payments made to two women who claim they had affairs with President Donald Trump, Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

According to the paper, prosecutors in the Manhattan US Attorney's office interviewed Hope Hicks, the former White House communications director and longtime confidante of Trump, last spring and Keith Schiller, the President's longtime bodyguard.

The paper also said investigators "learned of calls" between Schiller and David Pecker, the head of American Media Inc., the company that publishes the National Enquirer. Pecker worked with Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, to suppress potentially damaging claims made against candidate Trump by women, with AMI using a tabloid tactic called "catch and kill."

Additionally, the Journal reported that investigators "possess a recorded phone conversation" between Cohen and a lawyer who represented the two women. Trump has denied having affairs with Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, and Karen McDougal.

The paper said the investigators obtained information about Trump's involvement in the payments "weeks before" Cohen implicated the President in the scheme during a court appearance last year.

Read More