Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti charged Sunday that Rudy Giuliani’s television appearances have been an ‘absolute unmitigated disaster’ for the president in a withering rebuke of Donald Trump’s personal attorney.
In an interview on ‘This Week,’ Avenatti said that Giuliani’s performance on the program just before him was an ‘absolute train wreck’ and one of the ‘worst TV appearances’ by an attorney acting on behalf of a client that he may have ever seen.
‘I mean this guy’s all over the map over the last 72 hours on some very simple facts that should be very straightforward,’ Avenatti said. ‘They don’t know what to say because they’ve lost track of the truth.’
Daniels’ attorney asserted, ‘It is time for Rudy Giuliani to be put out to pasture.’
PUT HIM OUT TO PASTURE!: Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti charged Sunday that Rudy Giuliani’s television appearances have been an ‘absolute unmitigated disaster’ for the president in a withering rebuke of Donald Trump’s personal attorney
Daniels, an adult film actress who says she had an affair with the president, was a guest on Saturday Night Live. She said that what she really wants is for the president to resign
WHAT’S THAT?: The president indicated Saturday that he couldn’t hear reporters’ questions over the roar of Marine One as he returned to the White House from an Ohio trip. He did not stop to chat with them about the Daniels hush-money payment
Giuliani claimed he’s ‘not really involved’ in the Daniels case, despite making multiple television appearances to talk about it, and that he doesn’t know and doesn’t care when Trump first learned that Daniels wanted money to keep quiet about an affair she claims they had.
The former New York City mayor was the person who made the bombshell claim that Trump reimbursed his former attorney, Michael Cohen, the $130,000 that Daniels received as a payoff.
He said Sunday that he’s still working out the facts of when exactly Trump knew what the $35,000-a-month retained he was paying Michael Cohen was funding after claiming days ago that it was sometime in April.
‘It could have been recently, it could have been a while back. Those are the facts that we’re still working on,’ Giuliani said. ‘And that — you know, may be in a little bit of dispute. This is more rumor than it is anything else.’
The facts of the matter are under dispute in no small part because of Giuliani’s claims last week about what Trump knew and when he knew it.
Trump personally distanced himself from his lawyer’s statements on Friday, claiming that Giuliani had only just come aboard and was operating without all of the relevant information.
Giuliani said in a Saturday evening appearance on Fox News that his star client ‘says he still loves me’ even though he inadvertently put him in legal jeopardy with a claim that the payment was made with the 2016 election in mind.
He attempted to use that interview, and the one on ABC this morning, to narrow his role to the special counsel investigation into alleged collusion and obstruction of justice.
Giuliani on Saturday caled called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end the Mueller investigation into alleged collusion with Russia.
He also slammed the Justice Department for what he perceives as giving Hillary Clinton preferential treatment during her investigation – unlike Trump and his associates.
The statements by Giuliani this week contradicted longstanding positions of Trump and the White House, who have claimed for weeks that the president had no knowledge of the payment.
President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani insists his client ‘says he still loves me’ even though the former New York City mayor may have put him in legal jeopardy during a television interview this week. Giuliani appeared on Jeanine Pirro’s Fox News show on Saturday
The statements by Giuliani contradicted longstanding positions of Trump and the White House, who have claimed for weeks that the president had no knowledge of the payment. Trump is seen right with Ohio Rep. Jim Renacci in Cleveland on Saturday
Giuliani’s comments appeared to catch the president’s aides off guard.
In an attempt at damage control, Trump tried to explain his lawyer’s comments.
The president told reporters at the White House on Friday that Giuliani ‘just started a day ago’ and is ‘learning the subject matter.’
Giuliani actually joined Trump’s legal team on April 19.
Giuliani also repeated his claim, first revealed in an interview with Fox, that Trump repaid attorney Michael Cohen for hush-money given to porn star Stormy Daniels – but said the President was not aware of what the money was for until a week ago
‘He knows it’s a witch hunt,’ Trump said of Giuliani.
‘He’ll get his facts straight.’
After Giuliani’s interview with Hannity, the former mayor said Trump was ‘very pleased.’
But legal analysts said that Giuliani did damage to Trump’s cause by admitting that the president repaid Cohen.
Giuliani later issued a clarification, saying that Trump was not aware of what the payments were for until he was informed by his legal team a week ago.
Speaking to NBC News, Giuliani said Trump began paying Cohen back in January 2017, and in total paid 12 installments of $35,000 each.
The full sum, $420,000, included other expenses and fees for Cohen but Giuliani was unable to give further details.
Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, says she was paid $130,000 by Trump to keep quiet over their alleged affair during the presidential campaign
Giuliani said the President was surprised when he learned what the money had been used for and approved Giuliani’s decision to go public with the reimbursement, which he did while speaking to Sean Hannity on Fox News on Wednesday night.
‘You’re not going to see daylight between the president and me,’ he told NBC. ‘We’re going to work hard to have a consistent strategy.’
Trump may now be vulnerable to criminal liability over undisclosed payments as well as possible violations of campaign finance laws.
When asked if Trump was angry with him, Giuliani told The Washington Post on Friday: ‘He says he loves me.’
Giuliani and Trump continue to have a strong relationship.
It has been reported in the Post that the two men are still coordinating their legal strategy as Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation continues apace.
Trump and Giuliani are planning strategy without bothering to consult or inform members of the White House communications team, the Post reported.
Meanwhile, it was reported on Saturday that Trump knew about Cohen’s hush money payment to Daniels several months before he denied any knowledge of it in April, according to two people familiar with the arrangement.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s long-term private attorney, is being investigated for fraud and campaign finance breaches over the alleged payment to Daniels, it is understood
Mueller’s team is understood to have raised the prospect of forcing Trump to answer questions in the Russia probe, though it is unclear how serious the threat was
The insiders told The New York Times they were unsure exactly when Trump learned about the money transfer – intended to stop Daniels discussing their alleged affair – but he knew about it by the time he made his denial in April.
Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, signed a nondisclosure agreement with Cohen several days before the presidential election. The porn star has now sued to have it made invalid because Trump never signed it himself.
The lawsuit has now spiraled into questions about whether the payment made to secure Daniels’ silence violated campaign laws, as could be the case if the money was sent with Trump’s knowledge or to benefit his run for president.
If this was the case then it should have been declared, according to legal experts.
Cohen has insisted he paid the money out of his own pocket without the then candidate’s knowledge.
Trump, meanwhile, has denied the affair and insisted the agreement was organized by Cohen to prevent embarrassment to his family, not to help his presidential bid.
Asked why Cohen had made the payment on Air Force One in April, he replied: ‘You’ll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael Cohen is my attorney. You’ll have to ask Michael.’
Giuliani on Friday said he is preparing for the possibility that Mueller will subpoena President Trump as part of the ongoing Russia probe.
Giuliani said he believes there is roughly a 50/50 chance that a subpoena will be issued, telling ABC News ‘I got to prepare for that 50 per cent.’