President Trump’s former fixer apologized to first lady Melania Trump on Wednesday for lying to her about payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
“Mr. Trump is a conman. He asked me to pay off an adult film star with whom he had an affair, and to lie about it to his wife, which I did. Lying to the first lady is one of my biggest regrets. She is a kind, good person. I respect her greatly — and she did not deserve that,” he told the House Oversight Committee.
Hours later, Cohen said the president called him at some point and had him lie to his wife about the matter.
“Not only did I lie to the American people, I lied to the first lady,” he said. “When the president called me, I was sitting in a car with a friend of mine, and he had me speak to her and explain to the first lady.”
[Watch: Michael Cohen testifies before House Oversight Committee]
Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 days before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about an alleged tryst she claims happened in 2006, when Trump was married to the first lady. Trump denies the encounter.
The first lady said in October 2018 she was unconcerned about the allegations that her husband was unfaithful to her.
“It is not a concern and focus of mine,” she told ABC. “I am a mother and the first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do.”
Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani previously said the first lady believed her husband’s denials. “She believes in her husband, she knows it’s not true. I don’t even think there’s a slight suspicion that it’s true,” Giuliani said.
But the first lady said she has not spoken with Giuliani. “I never talked to Mr. Giuliani,” she said in October. “I don’t know [why he said it], you would have to ask him.”
A spokeswoman for Melania Trump did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
