By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com
President Trump confirmed Thursday morning that he reimbursed his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
It was an extraordinary admission on Twitter because Trump insisted last month that he was unaware of the payment, which the FBI is investigating.
Trump’s explanation comes after Rudolph Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who recently joined the president’s legal team, acknowledged for the first time that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payment.
Trump stressed that no campaign funds were used.
“Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA,” Trump tweeted. “These agreements are very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels).”
Trump said the payment “was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair, despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair.”
Trump continued, “Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction.”
On Fox News, Giuliani told Sean Hannity that Trump “didn’t know about the specifics of it, as far as I know.”
Giuliani added, “But he did know the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this with my clients. I don’t burden them with every single thing that comes along. These are busy people.’’
