Thread: Giuliani: Trump repaid Cohen $130K for payment to porn star

Giuliani: Trump repaid Cohen $130K for payment to porn star

Associated Press May 2, 2018


Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump (Getty Images) More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's new lawyer Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that Trump repaid his personal attorney Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, directly contradicting the president's past statements.

During an appearance on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," Giuliani said the money had been "funneled ... through the law firm and the president repaid it."

Asked if Trump knew about the arrangement, Giuliani said: "He didn't know about the specifics of it, as far as I know. But he did know about the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this for my clients. I don't burden them with every single thing that comes along.

These are busy people."

Trump told reporters several weeks ago that he didn't know about the $130,000 payment to Daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election.

Asked aboard Air Force One whether he knew about the payment, Trump said flatly: "No."

Trump also said he didn't know why Cohen had made the payment or where he got the money.

Giuliani, who joined Trump's legal team last month, said the president had repaid Cohen over several months, indicating the payments continued through at least the presidential transition, if not into his presidency.

He also says the payment "is going to turn out to be perfectly legal" because "that money was not campaign money."

Daniels says she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 and was paid to keep quiet as part of a nondisclosure agreement she is now seeking to invalidate. She has also filed a defamation suit against Trump, who denies having sex with Daniels.

Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, called the comment "a stunning revelation."

"Mr. Trump evidently has participated in a felony and there must be serious consequences for his conduct and his lies and deception to the American people," he said.

Cohen's payment to the president's accuser in the weeks leading up to the presidential election could be cast as an illegal contribution but not if he were acting on the president's behest and with his money.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/giuliani-trump-repaid-cohen-130k-payment-porn-star-020226204--politics.html?.tsrc=bell-brknews

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Sad that our country has so many issues that needs to be address, yet this stupid tabloid quality trash is all the rage on LSM.

It's all to try to eventually impeach Trump and stop his Agenda.

I don't know if it was a mistake or a strategy. It seems to contradict what President Trump has claimed. But then again, Rudy said it wasn't paid out of campaign funds or from Trump industry funds. So it may be a insulation from breaking any laws.

The wire transfer was on Oct 27. The date for reporting it if it needed to be reported was December 8, so it wouldn't have had any bearing on the election a month earlier. It's an NDA, something used by business, industry, government, individuals for many different types of situations, so it would be highly suspect if Trump's NDA with Daniels required FEC reporting when no one else's NDA payments are covered by campaign finance laws. In fact I think Congress would be in violation if they were.

• Months of misdirection undone in 4 words
  ​
  
  ANALYSIS
  Giuliani's statement that Trump repaid Stormy Daniels hush money tears down White House's web of stories
• NBC News corrects explosive story on Michael Cohen
• Watchdog group and ex-ethics chief say this was a financial disclosure violation
• Acosta to Sanders: Were you lying or in the dark?
• Toobin: Rudy's interview and Trump's lies create a crisis
• Jeffrey Toobin: How stupid do they think we are?

Rudy Giuliani throws Trump's legal team into disarray

By Gloria Borger, Pamela Brown and Katelyn Polantz, CNN
Updated 11:21 PM ET, Thu May 3, 2018

(CNN) Rudy Giuliani's public comments about President Donald Trump and attorney Michael Cohen in the last 24 hours threw a wrench in Trump's legal strategy, angering and confusing some members of the freshly formed team.

Some of the President's legal advisers felt blindsided by Giuliani's comments Wednesday night, according to multiple sources familiar with the team.

Following Giuliani's performance with Sean Hannity on Fox News, the advisers feared he was winging it and not fully prepared, sources said. Even if Giuliani had devised a plan with the President, he had not run it by all other legal advisers, according to a source familiar with the President's legal team.

Some advisers close to the President have speculated that Giuliani's statements were planned solely with the President, and they see it as more evidence that Trump is running his legal strategy.

The team is "calling it one play at a time," said a source familiar. "It's as if the players are executing the plays on their own," added the source, referring to Trump and Giuliani.

Giuliani told CNN on Thursday that he had spoken with the President both before and after his appearance with Hannity and it was coordinated carefully.

"You won't see daylight between me and the President," he said, pointing to Trump's tweets in support of what he said and did.

Giuliani was brought aboard to publicize Trump's message that he had not been treated fairly, that Hillary Clinton had received better treatment from investigators and that former FBI Director James Comey should not be believed. Giuliani also is tasked with negotiating with special counsel Robert Mueller's team over an interview with the President.

But Giuliani upended the strategy Wednesday, sources said. His comments poured fuel on the Stormy Daniels case, which is a focus in the New York-based investigation of Cohen, complained one source.

"It's a sideshow," a source familiar with the legal team said. "Why now? They're just getting in there to finish this thing. Why raise the question?"

The President has been fighting on two fronts: his connection to Cohen related to Daniels' hush payment and his intention in firing Comey. Previously, Trump said he had no knowledge of the agreement with and payment to Daniels, and has given different answers about why he fired Comey last year.

Giuliani both provided new details and contradicted previous statements about the matters. He said Wednesday night that Trump had funneled money to Cohen to reimburse him for the Daniels payoff and that the President got rid of Comey to stop him from pursuing the Russia inquiry.

Lawyers who work on the team were surprised when Giuliani appeared to veer off course from the President's previous statements about Trump's legal issues, according to sources familiar with their thinking.

As the Giuliani whirlwind took over Wednesday night -- the same day the reserved and experienced attorney Emmet Flood was announced as the newest White House lawyer managing the probe -- Trump attorney Jay Sekulow was stepping back from the spotlight, according to a source familiar with the legal team. Over the past few weeks, he had been focused on bringing in new talent to the team.

CNN reported Wednesday night that another lawyer who has worked closely with Giuliani for years was considering coming aboard as an experienced prosecutor who could temper Giuliani. That lawyer, Marc Mukasey, said Thursday that he would not join the team.

Another pair on the team are Jane and Martin Raskin, well-respected white collar attorneys from Coral Gables, Florida. They're experienced in defending clients in federal court, primarily in Florida, and lawyer-acquaintances of theirs said Wednesday that they would focus more on legal work instead of political messaging for Trump, in contrast to what Giuliani appears to be doing.

But as of Wednesday night, the lawyer team was frustrated and prevented from digging in on legal work and negotiations with Mueller's team, with not all attorneys on the same page.

CNN's Evan Perez, Dana Bash and Kara Scannell contributed to this report.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/03/polit...ray/index.html

Trump had Giuliani announce this because it clears Cohen of anything related to campaign finance laws. If any campaign finance or reporting violations occurred, it brings it home to Trump to explain or address. I didn't think Trump would leave Cohen out to dry, and he didn't, monetarily or legally at least not for anything Cohen has done in his work for Trump. I don't know if Giuliani explained it exactly right, which is why Trump took to the Twitter to explain it properly. Overall, I think it was good move and the legal team will be on board for it, so CNN and its 6 people plus editors to write a little article about "disarray" wasted their time, because Trump just killed the Stormy Daniels "payment" story. It's over. Buh Bye!