And what of the tape CNN played of a conversation between Trump’s attorney and Trump himself discussing possibly buying the rights to a Playboy bunny’s story of Trump infidelity?

Salient points:

(1) There’s no there there. No evidence of a crime, plus no such payment was ever made.

(2) Trump ultimately waived privilege on this particular tape after it was seized along with Cohen’s other records, so it’s no longer a confidential conversation protected by attorney-client privilege although it originally was.

(3) Cohen’s making the recording is not a crime in New York, where as long as one party to a 2-person conversation is aware of the taping, it’s legal to do so.

(4) However, it’s highly highly unusual for an attorney to make a recording of an attorney-client conversation without informing the client. Except in very rare circumstances that almost certainly do not apply here, it is also highly unethical.

The desire to catch Trump in some sort of past or present activity that will doom his presidency reminds me of an insatiably hungry animal that must be fed every few minutes with fresh new meat. So far, the animal has not been satisfied. But the tidbits of meat keep coming, and the beast chomps on them hungrily each time.

One does wonder, though—at least, I wonder—why Cohen decided to tape the transaction in the first place.

[NOTE: This post was originally on my older blog and had comments, but unfortunately the comments didn’t transfer over here.]