“There is no tax evasion,” Cohen said. “And the HELOC? I have an 18% loan to value on my home. How could there be a HELOC issue? How?… It’s a lie.”

Cohen said on the recording that “they had me on campaign finance,” which is a portion of his plea agreement.

But the Journal said later on in the conversation, Cohen claimed he went forward with some of his guilty plea in part to protect his wife.

“I love this woman,” Cohen said. “I am not going to let her get dragged into the mud of this crap, and I never thought the judge was going to throw a three-year fricking sentence.”