Trump: Cohen ‘lying’ about hush payments

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said his former personal attorney Michael Cohen was “lying” when he testified that Trump ordered hush payments in violation of campaign finance laws to silence two women alleging extramarital affairs.

Trump added that Cohen’s testimony was “totally false” and accused his former lawyer of striking a deal to “achieve a lighter sentence” in an interview with The Associated Press Tuesday at the White House.

Cohen in August admitted he violated campaign finance laws before the 2016 election at Trump’s direction as he pleaded guilty to eight counts of tax fraud, false statements to a bank and campaignfinance violations.

While Cohen did not use the president’s name in court, his attorney confirmed that Cohen was referring to Trump when he said he helped facilitate hush money payments to two women and worked with a national tabloid to quash their stories. The details match publicly known information about allegations made by porn actress Stephanie Clifford, known by the stage name Stormy Daniels, and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Trump has denied having affairs with the women, and earlier Tuesday attacked Clifford in a post on Twitter, referring to her as “Horseface” and suggesting he would use a legal judgment against her to get her to reaffirm a letter — which Clifford has said was prepared by Cohen as part of the hush payment — denying the affair.