The American president paid to his personal lawyer Michael Cohen the $ 130.000 he paid to the pornographic actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence regarding a sexual encounter with Donald Trump, the former R's revealed on Wednesday. He recently joined the White House Republican's advocacy group.
"As for the money that his lawyer (…) paid, the president repaid it over a period of many months," Giuliani told Fox News. The US president has stated that he did not know that the amount was paid to Stephanie Clifford - the real name of the actress - who says she had a meeting with Trump in 2006. Cohen gave $ 130.000 to Clifford in 2016 to buy its silence just before the presidential election.
In an interview with Fox News, Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and Trump's friend for many years, presented a new version of events, saying both that Trump knew the payment would be made and that he had repaid his lawyer. . The amount "was channeled through a law firm and the president repaid it," according to Giuliani. "He did not know specific details about this, as far as I know, but (…) there was a general arrangement under which Michael (s.s. Cohen) would take care of things like this," he added.
Giuliani argued that the payment did not violate campaign finance legislation because the money did not come from the campaign fund for Trump's election. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Asked on April 5 if he was aware of the payment to Daniels, Trump said "no". Asked why Cohen made the payment - after the White House confirms that Trump never had sex with Clifford - Trump replied: "You should ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my lawyer. You have to ask Michael. " Cohen has stated that the money with which he paid Clifford was out of his own pocket and that Trump did not cover the amount.
Clifford has filed a lawsuit against Trump and Cohen, seeking to get rid of the confidentiality agreement she signed, arguing it is invalid because the current president had never signed it. He has also sued Trump for defamation.