Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.
Summary: Rudy Giuliani clarified today that Donald Trump did not know about Michael Cohen’s deal with Stormy Daniels until after the fact.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined President Donald Trump’s legal team recently, and like his client, he is causing a stir in the media.
On Wednesday, Giuliani appeared on Fox News and disclosed that the president paid back Michael Cohen after Cohen had given porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in 2016. This admission contradicted Trump and Cohen’s previous statements that Trump had nothing to do with Cohen’s payment.
On Friday, Giuliani went on television again to clarify statements he made this week. Fox News said that on Thursday he implied that Trump’s repayment to Cohen may have political implications, but on Friday, he corrected himself, saying there was no political ties and that Trump did not know of the Daniels’ payment until after the fact.
“These are my views,” Giuliani said on Friday. “First: There is no campaign violation. The payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the President’s family. It would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not.
“Second: My references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President’s knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters.
“[Third] it is undisputed that the President’s dismissal of former Director Comey—an inferior executive officer—was clearly in his Article II power. Recent revelations about former Director Comey further confirm the wisdom of the President’s decision, which was plainly in the best interests of our nation.”
In January, the Wall Street Journal revealed that Trump’s camp had paid Daniels’ $130,000 in 2016 to kill a story about their alleged affair. Soon after, Cohen said that it was he and he alone who had arranged the payment, and Trump denied ever having an affair with the porn star.
In a 2011 interview for InTouch Magazine that was published this year, Daniels said that in 2006 she met Trump at a golf tournament and they had sex that evening, despite the fact that he was married to his current wife, Melania Trump.
After Cohen said that Trump was not involved with the $130,000 payment to Daniels, Daniels sued Cohen and Trump for defamation and the right to break the non-disclosure agreement she had signed.
Cohen’s payment to Daniels is being investigated for possibly violating campaign finance law, and Cohen’s office was raided in April to find information about the payment to Daniels as well as an alleged hush payment to ex-Playmate Karen McDougal.
On Friday, Giuliani did not backtrack on his statement that Trump had repaid Cohen, but he clarified that Trump did not know about the deal until the reimbursement was made.
That same day, Trump praised his new lawyer and said that Giuliani may have misspoke because he’s new to the job.
“When Rudy made the statements—Rudy is great, but Rudy has just started and he wasn’t familiar with everything,” Trump said. “He’s a special guy and he understands that this is a witch hunt.”
- Trump’s Stormy Daniels Defense Changing
- Stormy Daniels Sues Donald Trump for Defamation
- Stormy Daniels’ 60 Minutes Interview Transcript
- Stormy Daniels Sues Michael Cohen for Defamation