Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who just joined Donald Trump’s legal staff, released a statement today in an attempt to clarify things he said to Fox News host Sean Hannity. Giuliani was responding after seemingly mixed messages were posted on Twitter by Trump in reference to the payment made by Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Giuliani told Hannity that Trump did repay Cohen, but now he is saying that there is more to the story.
Rudy Giuliani Released A Statement In An Attempt To Confirm An Earlier Statement
Giuliani told Hannity that the payment to Stormy Daniels and Trump’s repayment to Michael Cohen did not constitute any kind of campaign violation, said The Hill .
“There is no campaign violation. The payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the President’s family. It would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not.”
In as simple terms as possible, Rudy Giuliani is now saying that his statements to Sean Hannity involved his own understanding of the Michael Cohen payment to Stormy Daniels, and not what Donald Trump knew of the whole matter at any point. Giuliani added that there is no conflict between his statements to Sean Hannity and what Donald Trump tweeted yesterday morning.
Mueller Poses As Fox News Host To Coax Rudy Giuliani Into Giving Him Testimony On Trump https://t.co/lTgnVtKU8O pic.twitter.com/NEGoZ9BiXk
— The Onion (@TheOnion) May 4, 2018
Giuliani Said He Only Spoke About What He Understood About The Stormy Daniels Payment
Rudy Giuliani added that there is no conflict between Donald Trump’s prior statement that he knew nothing about a payment to Stormy Daniels. The way Giuliani explains it, Donald Trump did not reimburse Michael Cohen for the $130,000 that Cohen had paid Daniels, but rather he replenished the money from the legal retainer he had ongoing with Cohen.
Rudy Giuliani added that there is nothing unusual about having a nondisclosure agreement for someone of Trump’s wealth and stature, as NDAs are “very common among celebrities and people of wealth.”
Donald Trump attempted today to shut down rumors that he was displeased by Giuliani’s statements to Sean Hannity. Trump says that Giuliani still has his support and that any misstatement was because Giuliani “wasn’t totally familiar with everything.”
ICYMI: Rudy Giuliani confirmed that President Trump fired James Comey over the Russia investigation.
Maddow notes: “…apparently we still have to wait for the movie to finish playing out.” https://t.co/QeJMEaSQQO
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 4, 2018
Donald Trump Says That Rudy Giuliani Still Has His Support
Donald Trump made a statement to the press after Giuliani clarified his former comments to Sean Hannity by saying that Giuliani has his support, but needs time to get up to speed with all the moving parts, says CNN .
“He’ll get his facts straight. There has been a lot of misinformation. I say you know what? Learn before you speak. It’s a lot easier.”
Trump, who confirmed that he and Rudy Giuliani remain friends, says that he is sure that Giuliani will succeed in his job on the Trump legal team once he gets fully up to speed.
“He really has his heart into it. He’s working hard. He’s learning the subject matter.”
