Prez weighs in on VA, Stormy
Reveals Cohen’s role in porn star deal
President Trump yesterday lost a nominee to serve as secretary of Veterans Affairs and divulged for the first time that his personal attorney Michael Cohen represented him “with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal,” a revelation made after he had previously denied any knowledge of a payment to the porn actress.
Trump weighed in on both issues when he spoke by phone yesterday to “Fox & Friends.”
Arguing that Cohen was one of his “many attorneys,” Trump said, “He represents me like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal,” and added, “From what I see, he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no campaign funds going in.” The telephone connection seemed to cut out for a few seconds after Trump mentioned Daniels.
Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, responded, saying in a tweet, “Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen previously represented to the American people that Mr. Cohen acted on his own and Mr. Trump knew nothing about the agreement with my client, the $130k payment, etc. As I predicted, that has now been shown to be completely false.”
Trump said weeks ago that he had no knowledge of a $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual tryst in 2006.
Earlier in the day, Trump’s pick to lead Veterans Affairs, Ronny Jackson, withdrew in the wake of late-surfacing allegations about overprescribing drugs and poor leadership while serving as a top White House doctor. In a statement announcing his withdrawal, Jackson said the “false allegations” against him became a “distraction.”
Jackson said he “did not expect to have to dignify baseless and anonymous attacks on my character and integrity,” in a statement released by the White House.
Trump praised Jackson as an “incredible man” who “runs a fantastic operation,” in the same call to “Fox & Friends.”
Now under consideration for the VA secretary post is former Rep. Jeff Miller, who previously chaired the House Veterans Affairs committee, according to two White House officials who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Asked whether Jackson will remain on the job as White House doctor, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “Admiral Jackson is a doctor in the United States Navy assigned to the White House and is here at work today.”
An attorney for Daniels said the porn star wants to compel Trump to testify under oath.
“This is going to add considerable momentum to our effort to depose the president and place him under oath in an effort to discover which version of the facts is accurate,” Avenatti said.
Cohen is under federal criminal investigation in New York into his personal business dealings. A New York judge said yesterday that she was appointing a former Manhattan federal judge to help determine what materials seized in FBI raids on Cohen are subject to attorney-client privilege. The judge noted that the government and Cohen’s lawyers agreed that a “special master” was the best way to determine which materials should or shouldn’t be offlimits to federal investigators.
Cohen is also dealing with a civil case filed by Daniels, who is seeking to invalidate the confidentiality agreement she signed before the election. Cohen said Wednesday that he would assert his constitutional right against self-incrimination in that case.