Too much talking?

Rudy Giuliani’s media blitz to convince the public that neither Donald Trump nor his lawyer had violated the law by paying a porn star to keep quiet about an alleged affair might have backfired, giving investigators new leads to chase and new evidence of potential crimes, legal analysts said.

Giuliani made statements that speak to Trump and lawyer Michael Cohen’s intent — an important aspect of some crimes — and he made assertions that investigators can now check against what they have already learned from documents and witnesses, legal analysts said.

“I’m sure his strategy was damage control,” said Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches at the University of Michigan, “but I’m not sure he controlled much.”

Starting with a Fox News appearance on Thursday, Giuliani, who joined Trump’s legal team just a few weeks ago, seemed to be trying to downplay Cohen’s US$130,000 ($185,370) payment in October 2016 to Stormy Daniels and Trump’s reimbursement of his longtime lawyer.

Charlie Spies, who served as counsel for Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign, said Giuliani’s comments must be weighed against Trump’s history of aggressively protecting his corporate and personal reputation.

“Remember, at this time, people didn’t expect him to win, so his business and personal reputation were much more important,” Spies said.

McQuade said Giuliani’s TV interviews might have been an effort to speak to Cohen and to reassure him that the White House still has his back. “Maybe the strategy there is to try to calm him down so he’s not tempted to co-operate,” she said.