Rudy Giuliani embarked on a damage-control operation late Wednesday following a shocking interview on Fox News where he revealed President Trump repaid Michael Cohen, his personal lawyer, the $130,000 he gave porn star Stormy Daniels to stay silent regarding her alleged affair with his client.
In follow-up interviews, Giuliani, who joined Trump’s personal legal team last month, claimed Trump pre-approved the revelation about the payment and insisted the reimbursement did not violate campaign finance laws.
“He was well-aware that at some point when I saw the opportunity, I was going to get this over with,” Giuliani told the Washington Post shortly after his bombshell interview on Fox News.
Giuliani added that Trump was “very pleased” when he spoke to the president on the phone Wednesday following his performance on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News. “I’m not going to get fired. But if I do, I do. It wouldn’t be the first time it ever happened. But I don’t think so, no,” Giuliani replied when asked whether he was worried he would be dismissed, per the Washington Post’s Robert Costa.
Q: So you won’t be fired for saying this?
A: “No! no! no! I’m not going to get fired (laughs). But if I do, I do. It wouldn’t be the first time it ever happened. But I don’t think so, no. (laughs)”— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 3, 2018
Earlier in the evening, Giuliani told Hannity that Trump repaid Cohen the $130,000 given to Daniels to not go public about her supposed encounter with the president more than a decade ago via a shell company called Essential Consultants LLC.
? Giuliani says Trump repaid Cohen the $130,000 used as hush money for Stormy Daniels pic.twitter.com/pqNtZthgwf
— Jon Passantino (@passantino) May 3, 2018
Afterwards, Giuliani told the New York Times that he had evidence proving Trump personally paid the $130,000 sum through $35,000 monthly installments “some time after the campaign [was] over.”
“That removes the campaign finance violation, and we have all the documentary proof for it,” Giuliani told the Times.
In total, Trump gave Cohen $460,000 or $470,000 as part of the arrangement, which covered “incidental expenses” incurred on the president’s behalf.
$35k a month totaling $460k or $470k, for Stormy and, as Trump often says, “other things.” Unclear what other jobs Giuliani referred to that Cohen was paid for. He said he doesn’t think Trump knew that the money was reimbursement for Stormy till recently. https://t.co/E4yzav7V8f
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 3, 2018
Trump has repeatedly denied knowing anything about the original $130,000 payment, which formed the basis of a nondisclosure agreement signed days before the 2016 election.
Immediately following his appearance on Fox News, Giuliani told the Wall Street Journal that his statements did not contradict Trump’s, noting that the president was “probably not aware” of the deal at the time.
The White House declined to comment Wednesday, referring questions to Trump’s outside legal counsel.
Daniels’ lawyer reacted to Giuliani’s bombshell, saying he was “speechless.”
“This is a very, very serious matter that deserves the attention of the American people, regardless of your political persuasion, period,” Michael Avenatti told MSNBC.
Giuliani is scheduled to appear on the Fox Business Network at 8 a.m. on Thursday.
