There has been much talk about Michael Cohen‘s transformation from Donald Trump‘s champion and fixer to his, in the Washington Post‘s estimation, “truth-teller without regard for any possible political or legal ramifications” especially in the wake of the leak of the Cohen-Trump tape to CNN.

Yet, according to Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis, it had to be done.

“He had to hit a reset button,” Davis said in an interview with WaPo published on Wednesday night.

He continued on: “He had to say he respected the FBI. He had to say he believed the intelligence agencies that Russia meddled in the election. He had to describe the Trump Tower meeting as extremely poor judgment at best. And, ultimately, he said, ‘I’m not going to be a punching bag anymore.”

Trump, predictably, reacted to the tape’s release.

“What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad! Is this a first, never heard of it before? Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things? I hear there are other clients and many reporters that are taped – can this be so? Too bad!” Trump tweeted out Wednesday morning.

What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad! Is this a first, never heard of it before? Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things? I hear there are other clients and many reporters that are taped – can this be so? Too bad! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2018

Yet, it turns out that while Trump may not have “never heard” of a client taping a client before, it seems Cohen made over a hundred recordings — now in investigators’ custody — with his clients and others, including more of Trump.

WaPo reports:

The government has seized more than 100 recordings that Cohen made of his conversations with people discussing matters that could relate to Trump and his businesses and with Trump himself talking, according to two people familiar with the recordings. Cohen appeared to make some recordings with an iPhone — without telling anyone he was taping them. A significant portion of the recordings is Cohen surreptitiously recording reporters who met with or questioned Cohen about Trump during the campaign and after Trump’s election, the people said.

Cohen had a habit of recording people, as Davis admitted.

“Michael Cohen had the habit of using his phone to record conversations instead of taking notes,” Davis said. “He never intended to make use of the recordings and certainly didn’t intend to be deceptive.”

The only one with a substantive Trump dialogue, however, appears to be the one leaked to CNN.

[image via Getty Images]

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