Report: Donald Trump offered senator money to end Patriots' Spygate investigation

The New England Patriots' Spygate scandal happened about 15 years ago, but apparently, there's still plenty of details we don't know about. 

As you recall, former New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini ratted out Bill Belichick in 2007 for illegally shooting video of opposing teams' signals. In 2008, Senator Arlen Specter launched an investigation into Spygate. From there, things got interesting. 

According to ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham, former President Donald Trump met with Specter in 2008 and offered him "money in Palm Beach" if he dropped his investigation into Spygate. Trump was reportedly acting on behalf of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, ESPN adds. 

Spokespeople for Trump and Kraft denied the allegations that they tried to influence Specter's investigation. 

Specter's communications aide, Charles Robbins, told ESPN that Specter first discussed the Spygate meeting with him in 2010 during a tape-recorded conversation for his final memoir. 

"On the signal stealing, a mutual friend had told me that 'if I laid off the Patriots, there'd be a lot of money in Palm Beach.' And I replied, 'I couldn't care less.'"

Specter never revealed the name of his mutual friend, but Robbins was sure it was Trump because the two had been close friends for a very long time.

Although Trump and Kraft have denied the allegations, Specter's son told ESPN that he got the truth directly from his father.

"My father told me that Trump was acting as a messenger for Kraft," Shanin Specter said. "But I'm equally sure the reference to money in Palm Beach was campaign contributions, not cash. The offer was Kraft assistance with campaign contributions. ... My father said it was Kraft's offer, not someone else's."

Shanin Specter says his father told him about the meeting soon after it happened.

"He was pi--ed," Shanin Specter says about his father. "He told me about the call in the wake of the conversation and his anger about it. ... My father was upset when [such overtures] would happen because he felt as if it were tantamount to a bribe solicitation, though the case law on this subject says it isn't. ... He would tell me these things when they occurred. We were very close."

Trump and Kraft remain close friends to this day. Kraft was a frequent guest of Trump's during his time in the White House, including a visit to celebrate New England's Super Bowl victory in 2017. Trump is also good friends with Belichick and offered him the Presidential Medal of Freedom following the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Belichick declined the honor.