A video mashup shows how the repeated denials by President Donald Trump and his aides who said over a period of months that he had no knowledge of a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels was refuted by Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who has recently joined Trump’s legal team, told Fox News on Wednesday that the president paid back his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, $130,000 in hush money that Cohen gave to Daniels.
Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Trump, which the president denies.
Since the story of Cohen’s initial payment to Daniels became public in January, White House aides have repeated the denials that Trump knew of the payment.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, and her assistant, Raj Shah, told the press on numerous occasions that the president had no knowledge of the payment
On March 7, Sanders once again stuck to the White House line denying any knowledge of the payment
Sanders’ denials were refuted by Rudy Giuliani, who acknowledged on Fox News that Trump repaid Michael Cohen for the $130,000 hush money payment
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, and her assistant, Raj Shah, told the press on numerous occasions that the president had no knowledge of the payment.
‘This case had been won already in arbitration, and there was no knowledge of any payments from the president, and he has denied all these allegations,’ Sanders said at a White House press briefing on March 7.
Shah told the White House press corps on February 22 that the matter of whether Trump knew of the payment was ‘asked and answered in the past.’
‘The president strongly, clearly, and has consistently denied these underlying claims,’ Shah told the press on another occasion.
Last month on Air Force One, Trump himself denied ever having knowledge of the payment, which he said Cohen made on his own.
But Giuliani, a recent addition to the Trump legal team, shocked the nation on Wednesday when he told Sean Hannity on Fox News that the president repaid Cohen by ‘funneling’ the cash through a law firm.
Raj Shah, Sanders’ deputy, told the press on numerous occasions that the president had no knowledge of the payment
Shah told the White House press corps on February 22 that the matter of whether Trump knew of the payment was ‘asked and answered in the past.’
Giuliani (seen above on Fox News) said Trump had used retainer fees starting in 2017 to reimburse Cohen for the $130,000 Cohen paid the porn star in the closing weeks of the November 2016 election
Giuliani said Trump had used retainer fees starting in 2017 to reimburse Cohen for the $130,000 Cohen paid the porn star in the closing weeks of the November 2016 election.
Trump wrote in a tweet on Thursday that Cohen was not paid using campaign funds.
The payment was part of a ‘private agreement’ that involved money that had ‘nothing to do with the campaign,’ Trump said.
He said the payment was aimed at stopping ‘false and extortionist accusations’ Daniels made about a sexual encounter with Trump.
Trump acknowledged a non-disclosure agreement with her to secure her silence. He denied they had an affair.
The claim of repayment is significant because a payment by Cohen could be seen as an illegal campaign contribution.
Giuliani’s comments on Fox News reportedly blindsided other members of Trump’s legal team.
It is believed that Giuliani is pursuing a strategy that he cooked up with Trump while not bothering to inform the other lawyers who are also working for the president, CNN reported.
Daniels received the money just before the November 2016 elections. Trump (left with Daniels in 2006) has denied having an affair with Daniels
Trump as candidate would have been permitted to make unlimited personal contributions to his own campaign.
But several experts pointed out an undisclosed campaign loan is also a violation of federal election law.
‘It is hardly an improvement to claim that what was claimed as a gift is now a secret loan from your lawyer to pay hush money to a porn star,’ said Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University Law School Professor who has frequently expressed skepticism about the legal case against the president.
But legal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said it was asking the Department of Justice and Office of Government Ethics to investigate whether Trump made an illegal false statement by not including the $130,000 payment in his personal financial disclosures.
The group said Trump was legally required to disclose any liability in excess of $10,000.
Cohen is the subject of a federal investigation into potential crimes stemming from the $130,000 payment
Other legal experts said the payment may not qualify as the sort of financial obligation Trump would have been required to disclose.
Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University, said that while prosecutions for making false statements to the government are common, they are rarely based on an omission on a financial disclosure form.
‘I don’t see this becoming a case,’ he said.
Meanwhile, it was reported earlier on Thursday that federal investigators kept logs of Cohen’s phone lines.
NBC News corrected an earlier story that said the lines were wiretapped to allow investigators to hear the calls.
‘In this case, they were just able to see that somebody called somebody else,’ but they were not able to listen to the calls, NBC News reporter Tom Winter, one of the two reporters bylined on the story, said on MSNBC.
NBC News reported that the monitoring of Cohen’s phone lines was in place before the FBI seized records and documents in an April 9 raid on his offices, hotel room and home.
The Cohen investigation is just one legal headache facing the president. The other is the ongoing probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Giuliani, who was brought on to the legal team to navigate the Mueller probe, said on Thursday that if his client agrees to an interview with the Special Counsel, it should be limited to a few hours and focus on Russian tampering in the 2016 election.
Asked what questions might be appropriate, Giuliani suggested two to Reuters: ‘Was there some agreement with the Russians? Was there any meeting of Trump with the Russians?’
The former New York mayor was more militant in comments to CBS News.
‘I want the Justice Department to close this thing down,’ Giuliani said.
‘They (special counsel Mueller and team) don’t have a scintilla of evidence that there was collusion with the Russians to influence the election. This is a ridiculous investigation.’
The Cohen investigation is just one legal headache facing the president. The other is the ongoing probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller (seen above in 2013) into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia
Giuliani said he wanted any Trump interview with Mueller to be limited in time and scope, suggesting for only 2.5 hours and not under oath.
In addition to the Russia questions, Giuliani said investigators could ask about possible obstruction of justice related to Trump’s firing a year ago of then-FBI Director James Comey.
The two sides have been negotiating the terms of a possible interview for months, including topics Mueller might pursue as part of a nearly year-old inquiry into possible collusion between Moscow and Trump’s presidential campaign.
The Kremlin has denied assertions by US intelligence agencies that it meddled in the election.
Trump has denied any collusion and has described the investigation as a political witch hunt.
Giuliani, who joined Trump’s legal team last month, said they were trying to figure out whether it was a good idea for Trump to voluntarily submit to an interview.
‘Are they trying to trap him?’ Giuliani asked.
He said Trump’s legal team expected to make a decision in two or three weeks.
‘We want to get it over with,’ he said.