President Trump reimbursed the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels by his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen. This recent revelation comes from Rudolph Giuliani, one of Trump’s current attorneys. The statement by Giuliani during an interview for Fox News contradicted President Trump’s account of events. The President had made it clear that he had no knowledge of any payments made to Stormy Daniels during the campaign. Cohen had earlier said that he had made the $130,000 payment to keep the former adult film actress from going public about an alleged affair with Trump on the run-up to the 2016 election.
Trump was specifically asked by reporters last month on board the Air Force One whether he had any knowledge of the payment. His answer was “no.” Trump also said at the time that even if a payment was made to Daniels, he didn’t have any idea where Cohen got the money.
Speaking to the New York Times minutes after the Fox News interview, Giuliani said that he had documentation showing that indeed Trump had made the payment to Cohen personally. Giuliani who is a former New York City mayor and a long-term associate of Donald Trump also added that there was no wrongdoing on the President’s part. He added that there weren’t any campaign finance violations.
Giuliani also said that when the hush payment was made, Cohen did it completely on his own authority. The former New York City mayor revealed that a reimbursement plan was created after the campaign. Cohen would get $35,000 a month as part of the plan. The money came from Trump’s personal family account. According to Giuliani, Cohen was paid between $460,000 and $470,000.
Giuliani told the New York Times that his comments were in fact planned. He said that he had consulted with the President and his entire legal team before the Fox News interview on what to say and what not to.
Trump has reportedly denied any affair with Stormy Daniels, and Giuliani’s latest revelation appears to contradict the President. In addition to this, Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime lawyer who is currently under investigation, has always maintained that he used his own money to pay off the adult film actress. Based on recent events, this was in fact false.
Despite this, Giuliani said that he didn’t think the President was aware of the payment to Stormy Daniels at the time it was made. He added that based on his understanding, Trump only became aware of the hush payment recently. But the truth about this controversial payment is still sketchy at best. There have been many contradictions as to what actually happened. In fact, at one point, Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen alleged that he had paid off the $130,000 using a home loan. Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti slammed the President on Twitter for lying to the American people. However, it looks like the storm is not yet over.
