RUDY SAYS DONALD PAID BACK STORMY HUSH MONEY
FORMER MAYOR Giuliani implicated the President in a criminal violation of federal campaign finance law Wednesday night by admitting Trump reimbursed his personal lawyer for $130,000 in hush money he paid a porn star, a government watchdog group said.
Giuliani, who joined the President’s legal team two weeks ago, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the cash Michael Cohen paid to mute adult movie star Stormy Daniels (bottom), after an alleged affair the the President, did not violate campaign finance law because Trump paid the money back.
“That money was not campaign money, sorry . . . (the money) was funneled through a law firm, and the President repaid it,” Giuliani said on Fox News (above).
“The fact is, trust me, they’re going to come up with no violations. Payments are perfectly legal,” the former mayor said.
Not so, says Common Cause lawyer Paul Ryan.
“Trump’s knowledge (of the payment) puts him on the hook,” Ryan said. “If it’s known, it has to be disclosed, and if it was known and not disclosed that’s a criminal violation.”
In the days leading up to the 2016 presidential election, Cohen negotiated a nondisclosure agreement with Daniels, who claimed she had a one-night stand with Trump in 2006 after the two met at a celebrity golf tournament.
When Cohen acknowledged the $130,000 payment in February, he said, “Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with (Stormy Daniels), and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly.”
But Giuliani contradicted both Cohen and Trump on Wednesday — just one month after the President told reporters aboard Air Force One he was not aware of the payment.
“(Trump) didn’t know about the specifics of it, but he did know about the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this,” Giuliani told Hannity.
Common Cause and research group American Bridge have since filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission claiming the payment violates campaign finance laws because it was not reported as an in-kind contribution.
Wednesday night’s disclosure showed the transaction violated federal criminal law, Ryan said.
Giuliani went on to say that Trump reimbursed Cohen “over the period of several months.”
When Fox News host Sean Hannity confronted Giuliani about Cohen’s previous statement, the former New York City mayor said, “I don’t know. I haven’t investigated that, no reason to dispute that . . .. ”
By not reporting the loan, which Ryan argued was an in-kind contribution, the President could be charged with making a false statement on a federal form.
Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti responded by tweeting, “We predicted months ago that it would be proven that the American people had been lied to as to the $130k payment and what Mr. Trump knew, when he knew it and what he did in connection with
it.” Cohen did not return multiple requests for comment.