Giuliani ‘confused’ dishing on Trump
US: President Donald Trump suggested Rudy Giuliani, the aggressive new face of his legal team, needed to “get his facts straight” about the hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election.
Mr Giuliani quickly came up with a new version.
Mr Trump chided Mr Giuliani even as he insisted “we’re not changing any stories” about the $130,000 settlement, which was paid to Ms Daniels to keep her quiet about her alleged affair with Mr Trump.
Hours later, Mr Giuliani backed away from his previous suggestion that his October 27 settlement had been made because Mr Trump ( pictured) was in the stretch run of his campaign for the presidency. Mr Trump said Mr Giuliani was “a great guy but he just started a day ago” and the former mayor of New York was “learning the subject matter”.
Mr Giuliani revealed this week that Mr Trump knew about the payment to Ms Daniels made by his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and the President paid Mr Cohen back.
Mr Giuliani insisted Mr Trump didn’t know specifics of Mr Cohen’s arrangement with Mr Daniels until recently, telling Fox & Friends the President didn’t know all the details until “maybe 10 days ago”.
Mr Giuliani told The New York Times Mr Trump had repaid Mr Cohen $35,000 a month “out of his personal family account” after the campaign was over.
Mr Giuliani’s suggestion that the President knew anything about the payments appeared to contradict Mr Trump, who has repeatedly denied the affair occurred and told reporters last month he hadn’t known about a settle- ment with Ms Daniels. Mr Giuliani said his previous “references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President’s knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters”.
Ms Daniels’s lawyer, Michael Avenatti, tweeted that “Mr Giuliani and Mr Trump are making it up as they go along”. He added: “How stupid do they think all of us are?”
Mr Trump is facing mounting legal threats from the Cohen-Daniels situation and the special counsel’s investigation of possible Russian co-ordination with the Trump presidential campaign.