Trump’s remarks on porn star payment differ from Giuliani’s

Remarks by President Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani differ over the matter of the $130,000 payment by Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleges a sexual tryst with Trump in 2006.

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TRUMP’S EXCHANGE WITH A REPORTER ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE

APRIL 5, 2018

Reporter: “Mr. President, did you know about the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels?”

Trump: “No.”

Reporter: “Then why did Michael Cohen make this if there was no truth to her allegations?”

Trump: “Well, you’ll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael’s my attorney and you’ll have to ask Michael.”

Reporter: “Do you know where he got the money to make that payment?”

Trump: “No, I don’t know. “

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GIULIANI’S EXCHANGE WITH FOX NEWS HOST SEAN HANNITY

MAY 2, 2018

Giuliani said the payment of $130,000 to Daniels “is going to turn out to be perfectly legal. That money was not campaign money. Sorry, I’m giving you a fact now that you don’t know. It’s not campaign money, no campaign finance violation.”

Hannity: “So, they funneled it through the law firm.”

Giuliani: “They funneled it through the law firm, and the president repaid it.”

He later added: “When I heard Cohen’s retainer of $35,000 when he was doing no work for the president, I said, ‘That’s how he’s repaying it, with a little profit and a little margin for paying taxes for Michael.’”

Asked if Trump knew about the arrangement, Giuliani said: “He didn’t know about the specifics of it, as far as I know. But he did know about the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this for my clients. I don’t burden them with every single thing that comes along. These are busy people.”