Payment not linked to campaign, Trump says
WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump insisted Thursday his reimbursement of a 2016 hush payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels had nothing to do with his election campaign. But the explosive revelation of the president’s payment clashed with his past statements, created new legal headaches and stunned many in the West Wing.
White House aides were blindsided when Trump’s recently added attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said Wednesday night that the president had repaid Michael Cohen for US$130,000 that was given to Daniels to keep her quiet before the 2016 election about her allegations of an affair with Trump. Giuliani’s revelation, which seemed to contradict Trump’s past statements, came as the president’s newly configured outside legal team pursued his defence, apparently with zero co-ordination with the West Wing.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she first learned that Trump had repaid the hush money from Giuliani’s interview on Fox News Channel’s Hannity. Staffers’ phones began to buzz within moments. Deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley, who had pre-taped an interview with Fox News earlier Wednesday evening, was suddenly summoned to return for a live interview.
While Giuliani said the payment to Daniels was “going to turn out to be perfectly legal,” legal experts said the new information raised a number of questions, including whether the money represented repayment of an undisclosed loan or could be seen as reimbursement for a campaign expenditure. Either could be legally problematic.
Giuliani insisted Trump didn’t know the specifics of Cohen’s arrangement with Daniels until recently, telling Fox & Friends on Thursday that the president didn’t know all the details until “maybe 10 days ago.” Giuliani told The New York Times that Trump had repaid Cohen US$35,000 a month “out of his personal family account” after the campaign was over. He said Cohen received US$460,000 or US$470,000 in all for expenses related to Trump.
But no debt to Cohen was listed on Trump’s personal financial disclosure form, which was certified on June 16, 2017. Asked if Trump had filed a fraudulent form, Sanders said: “I don’t know.”
Giuliani said the payment was not a campaign finance violation, but also acknowledged that Daniels’ hushed-up allegations could have affected the campaign, saying: “Imagine if that came out on October 15, 2016, in the middle of the last debate with Hillary Clinton.”
Questions remain about just what Trump knew and when.
Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, is seeking to be released from a non-disclosure deal she signed in the days before the 2016 election to keep her from talking about a 2006 sexual encounter she said she had with Trump.
She has also filed defamation suits against Cohen and Trump.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One several weeks ago, Trump said he did not know about the payment or where the money came from. In a phone interview with Fox & Friends last week, however, he appeared to muddy the waters, saying that Cohen represented him in the “crazy Stormy Daniels deal.”
Sanders said Thursday that Trump “eventually learned” about the payment, but she did not offer details.
Daniels herself weighed in via Twitter, saying: “I don’t think Cohen is qualified to ‘clean up’ my horse’s manure. Too soon?”
Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, who engaged in his own press tour Thursday, slammed both Trump and Giuliani.
“The admissions by Mr. Giuliani as to Mr. Trump’s conduct and the acts of Mr. Cohen are directly contrary to the lies previously told to the American people,” he said. “There will ultimately be severe consequences.”