Rudy Giuliani claimed on Friday that he was never speaking for the president when the newly appointed Trump lawyer made a series of shocking revelations about Trump’s involvement in a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, despite repeatedly claiming over the past 36 hours there was “no daylight” between the two men.
“This is intended to clarify the views I expressed over the past few days,” Giuliani said in a statement Friday afternoon, hours after Trump told reporters his newest attorney would “get his facts straight” about the hush money paid to Daniels by the president’s personal attorney Michael Cohen.
During a Fox News appearance Wednesday night, Giuliani told conservative host Sean Hannity that the president repaid Cohen in $35,000 installments for the money sent to Daniels, who claims to have carried on an extramarital affair with Trump in 2006.
Trump himself later said on Twitter that Cohen received a “monthly retainer” after entering into a “private contract… known as a non-disclosure agreement” with Daniels before the election. “Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no role in this transaction,” he said.
In his statement on Friday, Giuliani asserted that none of his comments about Cohen or Daniels were in reference to what Trump may or may not have known at the time the payment was made.
“My references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President’s knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters,” he said.
Asked by Hannity if Trump knew about the payment to Daniels, the former New York City mayor said on Wednesday: “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.”
Giuliani also appeared to walk back his earlier comments about Trump’s reasoning for firing former FBI Director James Comey, which he attributed to Comey’s refusal to “say that [Trump] wasn’t a target of the investigation” into Russian election interference.
“It is undisputed that the President’s dismissal of former Director Comey — an inferior executive officer — was clearly within his Article II power,” Giuliani said. “Recent revelations about former Director Comey further confirm the wisdom of the President’s decision, which was plainly in the best interests of our nation.”
