Trump blasts Cohen over tape disclosure
Washington, July 25 : US President Donald Trump blasted his former attorney Michael Cohen on Wednesday after a secret audio of a recording between the two about making a payment to Playboy playmate Karen McDougal was aired.
In the 2016 conversion aired on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time" on Tuesday, Trump, then-US presidential candidate, and Cohen could be heard discussing how they would buy the rights to McDougal's story about an alleged affair she had with the leader years earlier.
Trump denies the affair and took to Twitter in the morning slamming Cohen. "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.
Court filings said federal prosecutors have 12 recordings from Cohen and according to CNN, the recording with Trump was among those 12.
The tape's release made a further dent in the relationship between the President and Cohen, who was the former's previous steadfast supporter, personal attorney and long time confidant.
Cohen is under criminal investigation by the US attorney's office in Manhattan for his personal financial dealings, including the payment he made to porn actress Stormy Daniels on Trump's behalf before the election.
However, he has not been charged with any wrongdoing in Daniels case.
In the audio, Trump and Cohen discussed other matters, including an attempt by the New York Times to unseal the records from the President's first divorce and mentioning pastor Mark Burns, a Trump supporter.
Cohen's attorney Lanny Davis provided CNN the September 2016 recording and said Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani had been "falsely disparaging" Cohen.
Giuliani contended that the recording would not harm Trump after news came last week that the recording of Trump and Cohen was among those obtained by prosecutors.
trump, however, expressed anger over the recording last weekend on Twitter, calling both the seizure of the recording and Cohen's creation of it "inconceivable".
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Shivakumar urges centre to intervene on Alamatti dam height issue
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday urged the Centre to intervene and allow Karnataka to raise the height of the Almatti dam across the Krishna river.
He also said that he will lead an all-party delegation to Delhi in this regard.
Noting that all three states -- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra -- have opposed the project, he said the Andhra Pradesh government has asked the Centre not to allow Karnataka acquire land for the proposed project to increase the dam's height from 519 meters to 524 meters.
"Andhra Pradesh government has written to the Centre asking it to refrain from giving any approval or gazette notification that allows Karnataka to carry out land acquisition for the proposed project stating the matter is pending before the Supreme Court," Shivakumar, who is also the state's water resources minister said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, the Union Water Resources Secretary has sought Karnataka's response. "We will reply to it after consulting legal experts."
"I did not expect Andhra Pradesh to react this way. (Andhra Pradesh CM) Chandrababu Naidu is an experienced politician; he is aware of everything, but they are now putting such pressure on the centre. I'm unable to understand this," he said.
Noting that the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II) award permitted Karnataka to raise the dam to 524 metres and that there was no stay from the Supreme Court, the Deputy CM said and appealed to the Centre to act in accordance with earlier orders.
He also appealed to all the parliament members of Karnataka to put pressure on the central government in this regard, in the interest of the state.
"I will be sending all the details and records to our MPs; we need to build pressure on the centre, Prime Minister and the Union Jal Shakti minister on the issue when the Parliament session begins on March 10," he said, adding that he also plans to lead an all-party delegation to Delhi in this regard.
Pointing out that the Karnataka cabinet, on September 16, 2025, decided to acquire 1.33 lakh acres of land for this project in one go, through consent acquisition, and planned to allocate Rs 70,000 crore for land acquisition in three phases, Shivakumar said, adding, "Now obstacles are being caused to it."
Further delays would escalate costs, he said, as land compensation has become a major burden, with courts awarding higher payouts after farmers rejected earlier offers of Rs 8-9 lakh per acre during the previous BJP government.
"After deliberations, compensation is fixed in the range of Rs 35-40 lakh per acre, with some awards reaching Rs 10 crore because of litigations," he said, adding that around Rs 20,000 crore has already been spent on the project.
Asserting that it is "our water, our land", Shivakumar said, "I appeal to Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra not to interfere in this project; it is not good for you."
