NEW YORK — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is now part of President Trump's legal team, said this evening that Trump reimbursed his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a payment made on the eve of the 2016 election to adult superstar Stormy Daniels as part of a settlement agreement about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter.
Trump "didn't know the specifics of it, but he did know the general arrangement," Giuliani said.
"That was money that was paid by his lawyer, the way I would do, out of his law firm funds, or whatever funds — doesn't matter. The president reimbursed that over a period of several months," he said.
Giuliani's statements, made during an interview on FOX News with Sean Hannity Wednesday night, directly contradicts statements made by Trump, who has denied any knowledge of the payment.
The $130,000 payment was made to Daniels by Cohen, who has asserted that Trump had no knowledge of the payment, which was made through a shell corporation, Essential Consultants LLC.
"Just trust me, they're going to find no violations here," Giuliani told Hannity.
Michael Avenatti, Daniels attorney, tweeted this evening: “We predicted months ago that it would be proven that the American people had been lied to as to the $130K payment and what Mr. Trump knew, when he knew it and what he did in connection with it. Every American, regardless of their politics, should be outraged.”
Meanwhile, Daniels' former manager, who helped broker her confidentiality agreement with Trump, is cooperating with the FBI as part of its probe of an arrangement she struck with Cohen, according to CNN.
Gina Rodriguez responded to a subpoena by handing over records to the FBI, CNN said. Some of those documents pertain to the 2016 “hush” agreement signed by Daniels and Cohen about the alleged Trump encounter.
