HC Wake-Up Call: Feds Have 12 Michael Cohen Recordings, Trump Tweets Threats At Iranian President & Olympic Swimmer Ryan Lochte Suspended

Good morning, Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.

But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)

Federal Prosecutors Have 12 Audio Recordings From Former Trump Attorney Michael Cohen

Federal prosecutors who are investigating President Donald Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, are currently in possession of 12 audio recordings seized during the raids of Cohen’s home, office and hotel room, ABC News reports.

It is not clear who was recorded on the tapes, and when. The New York Times reported on Friday that Cohen secretly recorded a conversation with Trump approximately two months prior to the 2016 presidential election.

On that tape, Cohen and Trump discussed a payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed she had a ten-month affair with Trump back in 2006, sources told ABC News. McDougal sold her story to the National Enquirer in August 2016 for $150,000, but the tabloid never published the story.

via JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images/Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Playboy

The recording includes a brief conversation between Cohen and then-presidential candidate Trump discuss a plan devised by Cohen to purchase the rights to McDougal’s story from American Media Inc., which own the National Enquirer, and the company had already bought the rights to her story.

On the recording, Cohen proposes paying the media company $150,000, and Trump can be heard instructing Cohen to make sure that the payment is properly recorded. Sources said the payment was never made, however.

Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani confirmed to Reuters that the recording regarding McDougal was among the 12 audio recordings, but said the other 11 recording were of Cohen discussing Trump with other, unknown individuals. Trump was not a part of those 11 tapes.

Cohen is currently under investigation by New York federal prosecutors to determine if Cohen violated campaign-finance laws, engaged in illegal lobbying or committed wire or bank fraud.

Trump Tweets Threats At Iranian President

President Donald Trump sent out a storm of all-caps tweets late Sunday night directed at Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and warned the Iranian leader to not threaten the United States with a stern warning of his own, The Huffington Post reports.

“NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE,” Trump tweeted shortly before midnight. “BE CAUTIOUS.”

According to the Associated Press, Gen. Gholan Hossein Gheibparvar, a commander for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, brushed aside the comments on Monday, calling them “psychological warfare” against Iran, and said Trump wouldn’t dare to act on his threats.

Trump’s comments come the same day that Rouhani warned the U.S. against further retaliatory action toward Iran.

“America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars,” Rouhani said during a meeting with diplomats on Sunday. “You are not in a position to incite the Iranian nation against Iran’s security and interests.”

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders repeated Trump’s warning, telling Fox News that “if needed, and steps are required, this president is not afraid to take them.”

“He’s certainly not going to tolerate the leader of Iran making threats against Americans, making threats against this country, making threats against Israel,” Sanders said. “This is a president who is going to stand up and make sure he is doing what is necessary.”

Trump said in May that he would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, and the White House is set to reimpose sanctions on Iran on November 4, HuffPost reports. The Trump administrations also requested that all countries discontinue all imports of Iranian oil, but the State Department took back those requests earlier this month, and said it would work with countries on a “case-by-case basis.”

Olympic Swimmer Ryan Lochte Suspended by U.S. Anti-Doping Agency

Olympic Swimmer Ryan Lochte has been suspended for 14 months by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for receiving an intravenous infusion, which violates anti-doping rules, The Washington Post reports.

The Olympic swimmer was not using a banned substance, according to the agency, but it is against the rules for athletes to receive an IV unless they are hospitalized or an exemption has been granted by the agency.

via Michael Sohn/Associated Press file

The violation was revealed by Lochte himself on his social media account when he posted a photo of himself getting an IV on May 24.

According to The Post, the suspension comes two days before the national championships in which he was entered in four events.

“It’s devastating to my family about this because I definitely made myself a better person after Rio, and I was back in training,” Lochte said in a news conference Monday in Fort Lauderdale. The Olympic medalist was was banned for 10 months after making a false claim about a gas-station robbery during the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. said in a news conference Monday in Fort Lauderdale. “I was feeling good. I was swimming fast. My son being born. Everything was happening. Everything was perfect, and then this happened. And it’s devastating.”

“As soon as you get to a certain point or level, in any kind of sport career, you’re always going to have an eye on you. I think I’ve learned it the hard way. Definitely. Especially since Rio. And now this,” Lochte continued.

“It’s a hard sanction because I didn’t take anything illegal, but a rule is a rule,” he said, referring to the B vitamin complex he took, which he said was available anywhere. “I wasn’t too clear on the rules, but now I am. And I know there’s other athletes that don’t know this rule. I want to help them and make sure that other athletes don’t make the same mistake I did.”

Lochte said he will continue to train for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but will only post about his son and wife, and “leave everything else out.”

The suspension is retroactive to May 24, which is when he received the intravenous infusion.

USADA said Lochte has “fully cooperated” with the investigation.

What to look out for…

The longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century will occur on Friday!