White House counselor Kellyanne Conway insisted Sunday when President Trump denied knowing about the $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on Air Force One in April, he meant he didn’t know when the transaction originally took place.
“In speaking with the president just yesterday, when the president said ‘no’ on Air Force One, he was talking about he didn’t know when the payment occurred,” Conway said during an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union,” referring to an exchange Trump had with reporters traveling on the presidential aircraft.
“He’s saying he didn’t know about it when the payment occurred and he found out about it after the fact,” she continued.
Conway pushed back on concerns the White House has a credibility problem after Rudy Giuliani, a new addition to Trump’s personal legal team, told Fox News on Wednesday the president reimbursed his personal attorney Michael Cohen after he paid porn star Daniels the money days before the 2016 election through shell company Essential Consultants LLC in exchange for her silence about her alleged affair with Trump.
The White House and Trump have repeatedly denied the affair and the president’s involvement in the nondisclosure agreement. Both Giuliani and Trump have also denied that any campaign finance laws were violated because Trump paid Cohen back.
“No, I don’t,” Conway fired back when asked if she thinks the White House has a credibility issue. “The president doesn’t lie.”
She added that she has “no reason” not to believe Trump’s denial that he ever had a sexual encounter with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, more than a decade ago.
Conway also said she wasn’t aware of other payments like the one made to Daniels while overseeing Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
“I do not. They didn’t cross my desk as campaign manager,” she said.
