The Rev. Franklin Graham has weighed in on the controversy surrounding a secretly-recorded tape of President Donald Trump and his former lawyer Michael Cohen discussing an alleged hush-money payoff to a Playboy model – and says God will judge its contents for "truth and righteousness."
"It is a good moment to point out that everyone should realize that every word that is spoken or thought is recorded by God," Graham, the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, said in a tweet issued Wednesday.
Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse, added: “Here’s a sober warning from God’s Word, 'What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, & what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.' (Luke 12:3)’’
"We won’t be judged by media spin masters or forensic audio analysts, but you will be judged by truth & righteousness—by God Himself."
Graham, a longtime supporter of Trump, does not offer his opinion about the tape.
The tape in question, recorded in September 2016 and made public earlier this week, reveals Trump and Cohen discussing a payment that would be routed in such a way as to conceal an alleged affair between the president and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
They are heard talking about acquiring the rights to McDougal's story and whether to pay by cash or check.
At issue is whether the payment being discussed was campaign-related and intended to influence the 2016 presidential election, something that would be against the law.
Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani has lashed back at claims that the audio, aired on CNN, is damning for the president, saying cash was not used in the alleged pre-election payoff and "the president is not an idiot."
"There's no way the president is going to be talking about setting up a corporation and then using cash – unless you are a complete idiot, and the president is not an idiot," Giuliani told Fox News host Laura Ingraham on "The Ingraham Angle."
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