INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Authors: JordanTrump was silent on whether he knew about the payment scheme to Cohen as it was happening.WASHINGTON:
President Donald Trump said Thursday that his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, was reimbursed through a monthly retainer for the
$130,000 payment made to porn actress Stormy Daniels to stop what Trump called "false and extortionist accusations" about a decade-old
affair.In an extraordinary series of morning tweets, the president confirmed that Cohen entered into a non-disclosure agreement with
Daniels, which Trump called "very common among celebrities and people of wealth."Trump stressed that no campaign funds were used to
reimburse Cohen, calling it a "private agreement.""Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction,"
Trump wrote.Trump's explanation on Twitter came the morning after Rudolph W
Giuliani, the former New York mayor and recent addition to Trump's legal team, acknowledged for the first time that Trump had repaid Cohen -
despite Trump's assertion last month that he was unaware of the payment
Giuliani made the comments on the Fox News Channel.In his tweets Thursday morning, Trump was silent on whether he knew about the payment
scheme to Cohen as it was happening.Trump "didn't know about the specifics of it, as far as I know," Giuliani told Fox News Channel's Sean
Hannity on Wednesday night
"But he did know the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this with my
I don't burden them with every single thing that comes along
These are busy people.''Later, Giuliani said in an interview with The Washington Post that when Cohen paid the settlement to Daniels, he
knew he would eventually get paid back by Trump, as he was reimbursed for other expenses.Giuliani said it was his understanding that
repayment from Trump came in a series of transactions after the election that he believes were completed in 2017, but could have included a
reimbursement in 2018.In the non-disclosure agreement, Daniels agreed to remain silent about Trump and a brief affair she says she had with
him in 2006 when they met at a Lake Tahoe celebrity golf tournament
She has since filed suit to get out of the agreement and spoken out publicly with her alleged dalliance with the now-president.Campaign
finance watchdog groups have filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and Justice Department alleging that the then-secret
payment amounted to an illegal campaign expenditure.Daniels's attorney, Michael Avenatti, said Thursday that Trump had defamed his client
with his latest tweets, particularly with his assertion that she was making "extortionist" accusations."I think there's no question that
he's defaming my client," Avenatti said during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe.""These guys are making it up as they go along," he
"They are in full panic mode
They do not know what to do."Avenatti also predicted that Trump will not serve out his term.(This story has not been edited by staff and is
auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
