President Donald Trump defended his payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on Thursday, explaining that it was part of his lawyer Michael Cohen’s monthly retainer.
“These agreements are very common among celebrities and people of wealth,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels).”
The president detailed the payments to Cohen after Rudy Giuliani, now a member of his legal team, admitted that Trump personally reimbursed his lawyer Michael Cohen for the payment to Daniels.
Trump explained that Cohen received a monthly retainer for his arbitrations from his personal funds.
“In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels),” Trump wrote. “The agreement 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 said that it was a private agreement and repeated that campaign funds were not used for the payment.
Giuliani said the same thing on Wednesday night on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show.
“That money was not campaign money,” he said. “Sorry, I’m giving you a fact now that you don’t know. It’s not campaign money. No campaign finance violation. So they funneled it through a law firm. and the president repaid it.”
Giuliani said that Trump did not know the specifics of the payment, but he did know the arrangement that his personal lawyer would take care of things like that.
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. These agreements are…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018
…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). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair,……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018
…despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair. 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.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018
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