“My references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President’s knowledge … “
President Donald Trump’s new lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Friday attempted to walk back his explosive comments from earlier in the week confirming that the president reimbursed his other lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
“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,” Giuliani wrote in a statement.
The former mayor also said 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,” he added.
Giuliani also attempted to clarify his knowledge of the timeline for the payment, appearing to walk back his claim that Trump repaid Cohen for the Daniels payment.
“My references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President’s knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters,” Giuliani writes.
The Rudy statement pic.twitter.com/wjaTNL6Ny9
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) May 4,2018
Giuliani then addressed his recent statement about why the president fired former FBI Director James Comey. “It is undisputed that the President’s dismissal of former Director Comey – an inferior executive officer – was clearly within his Article II power,” he said.
“Recent revelations about former Director Comey further confirm the wisdom of the President’s decision, which was plainly in the best interests of our nation.”
Earlier in the week, the former mayor sparked controversy by claiming Trump fired Comey because he “would not, among other things, say that [Trump] wasn’t a target of the [Russia] investigation.”
The president defended Giuliani’s string of explosive stories, blaming the crossed wires on the lawyer being new to the team.
“Rudy is great, but Rudy had just started, Trump said Friday. “He knows it’s a witch hunt, that’s what he knows.”
William is a Senior Congressional and Breaking News Reporter for IJR. Prior to that, he covered politics and breaking news at AOL.com, leading the sit… more
