Former Pool Boy Implicated In Jerry Falwell Jr. Scandal Denies Involvement With Racy Photos

When it was reported earlier this week that Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University and a staunch supporter of President Trump’s, had paid Trump attorney-turned-inmate Michael Cohen to suppress some embarrassing photos, some speculation centered on another story about Falwell from last year. In that story, per The Inquisitr, Falwell and his wife had agreed to invest a large amount of money in a business run by a young man who the Falwells had met when he was working as a pool boy in a Florida hotel. Furthermore, the two stories about Falwell were written by the same reporter.

Now, the former pool boy at the center of the latter story has broken his silence and denied any involvement with Falwell’s photos or with Michael Cohen. And he also doesn’t want to be called a pool boy.

Giancarlo Granda, who worked at the Fontainebleau hotel when he met the Falwells years ago, issued a statement through his attorney to The Miami New Times.

“Giancarlo Granda has never had any communications with Michael Cohen (directly or indirectly),” Granda told the newspaper through his attorney, Aaron Resnick. “He does not know Mr. Cohen. He has never met Mr. Cohen. Mr. Cohen is a convicted felon and admitted liar. Mr. Granda has no idea about the alleged ‘personal photographs’ Mr. Cohen refers to in his taped conversation with Tom Arnold.”

Arnold, the actor and comedian who hosts a TV show in which he hunts for embarrassing tapes of President Trump, is known to have taped conversations with Cohen, and released details from them to the press. According to the Reuters story earlier this week, Falwell engaged Cohen in 2015 to intervene in a blackmail plot involving what were described as “intimate” photos that had been obtained by a lawyer in Florida. Cohen’s intervention was successful, although it’s unclear exactly what he did. The lawyer’s identity is also unknown.

Cohen, who pleaded guilty to multiple crimes connected with his work with the president, reported to prison earlier this week.

Falwell, in a radio interview Wednesday, denied the Reuters story.

Granda’s attorney also told the New Times that Granda does not care for the phrase “pool boy,” and that “the term ‘pool boy’ is being used to demean Mr. Granda, sully his name, and infer negative connotations.”

Falwell endorsed Trump during the 2016 primaries, and has continued to support the president. Last week, he suggested that Trump be given an extra two years to his term, and the president retweeted him.