{"id":64819,"date":"2018-05-05T04:58:10","date_gmt":"2018-05-05T04:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=64819"},"modified":"2018-05-05T04:58:10","modified_gmt":"2018-05-05T04:58:10","slug":"giuliani-tries-to-clarify-comments-on-trumps-reimbursement-of-payment-to-porn-star-stormy-daniels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/giuliani-tries-to-clarify-comments-on-trumps-reimbursement-of-payment-to-porn-star-stormy-daniels.html","title":{"rendered":"Giuliani tries to clarify comments on Trump\u2019s reimbursement of payment to porn star Stormy Daniels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Giuliani tries to clarify comments on Trump’s reimbursement of payment to porn star Stormy Daniels<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

President Trump\u2019s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani sought Friday to clean up a series of comments he had made about a settlement with an adult-film actress who allegedly had a relationship with Trump, backtracking on his previous assertions about what the president knew and why the payment was made.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cautious wording of the written statement released by Giuliani stood in sharp contrast to his previous two days of wide-ranging television and print interviews in which, according to legal experts, he exposed his client to greater legal risks and might have compromised his own attorney-client privilege with the president.<\/span><\/p>\n

The former New York mayor startled White House officials and other members of Trump\u2019s legal team by announcing Wednesday that the president had reimbursed his personal lawyer Michael Cohen for a secret $130,000 payment he made in 2016 to actress Stormy Daniels. In several interviews, Giuliani also talked at length about how much Trump paid Cohen and when the reimbursements were made.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some Trump advisers said they fear that Giuliani may have waived his right to assert that his conversations with the president are private \u2014 and that government or private lawyers pursuing lawsuits could now seek to interview him.<\/span><\/p>\n

The drama instigated by the freewheeling former U.S. attorney \u2014 who signed on as Trump\u2019s lawyer just last month \u2014 is the latest crisis to hit the president\u2019s legal team, which has weathered numerous departures in recent months as it contends with the special counsel investigation into Russian election interference and a newly revealed separate criminal probe into Cohen.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most recent shake-up came this week, with the news that Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer dealing with the special counsel, will be replaced by veteran white-collar defense attorney Emmet Flood.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\u2018The gloves may be coming off\u2019: Shake-up of Trump legal team signals combative posture toward special counsel]<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the fallout from his comments, Giuliani still appeared to be in good graces with the president, according to people familiar with his standing. The two men continued to confer privately about how to handle the Daniels matter, without consulting with the White House communications shop or the White House counsel\u2019s office.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an interview Friday with The Washington Post, Giuliani said Trump was not mad at him. \u201cHe says he loves me,\u201d Giuliani said.<\/span><\/p>\n

For his part, Trump told reporters Friday that Giuliani, who joined the legal team April 19, \u201cjust started a day ago\u201d and is \u201clearning the subject matter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows it\u2019s a witch hunt,\u201d the president added. \u201cHe\u2019ll get his facts straight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But Giuliani\u2019s attempt at damage control will probably do little to mitigate the legal problems he has caused, legal experts said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first rule is to shut up, which he is unable to do,\u201d said Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University. \u201cFalse exculpatory statements often come back to bite.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGiuliani\u2019s barrage harmed his client,\u201d he added. \u201cHe waived the privilege for communications with Trump on the subject of his public statements.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One close Trump adviser agreed, saying Giuliani had \u201cwaived the privilege, big time,\u201d with his public descriptions of his conversations with the president.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump initially did not appear concerned about Giuliani\u2019s r<\/span><\/p>\n

But Friday morning, the two men had a long conversation, during which they decided that a clarification was needed, Giuliani said in an interview Friday evening.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to get everyone on the same page,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the statement he released, Giuliani insisted that the settlement with Daniels to keep her from disclosing an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 was made solely \u201cto protect the President\u2019s family.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not,\u201d he added in his statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

That contrasted with comments he made earlier in the week, when he referred to the Daniels settlement in the context of the 2016 presidential campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

Appearing Thursday on Fox News Channel, for instance, Giuliani asked viewers to imagine if Daniels had aired her allegations \u201cin the middle of the last debate with Hillary Clinton.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that Cohen \u201cmade it go away. He did his job.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Campaign finance law experts said such remarks by Giuliani may have offered new potential evidence for federal prosecutors in Manhattan who are investigating Cohen.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his statement, Giuliani also sought to make clear that he spoke in recent interviews about his understanding of events in which Trump had been involved \u2014 not about what the president knew at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President\u2019s knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The distinction is important because if Giuliani had publicly described a private conversation with the president, he might have inadvertently waived attorney-client privilege on that conversation \u2014 potentially opening the door for prosecutors to probe further into what was said, legal experts said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In interviews earlier in the week, Giuliani indicated that he had conferred with the president before he divulged that Trump had reimbursed Cohen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was well aware that at some point when I saw the opportunity, I was going to get this over with,\u201d Giuliani told The Post on Wednesday night, adding that he had discussed the matter with Trump \u201cprobably four or five days ago.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a subsequent interview with NBC, Giuliani said he told Trump what Cohen had done on his behalf.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the president realized he paid him back for that specific thing until we made him aware of the paperwork,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Giuliani said the president responded, \u201cOh my goodness, I guess that\u2019s what it was for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Giuliani\u2019s statements were based on a relatively short conversation he had with Trump about the Daniels matter, according to two people familiar with their discussions. Giuliani did not independently delve into the details of the case before he went on the air Wednesday night, they said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRudy followed the client\u2019s wishes without knowing all the facts,\u201d one person said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Giuliani disputed that, telling The Post on Friday evening that his understanding of the case came from \u201cco-counsel, from reading documents, from conversations I had.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t all from talking to the president,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also offered more details about the repayment arrangements, saying Trump had re\u00adimbursed Cohen by paying him $35,000 a month in 2017 for legal work Cohen did the previous year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was sort of a straight-out bill,\u201d he said. \u201cIf he didn\u2019t pay it every month, he paid it many months.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe monthly bill was paying down the expenditures. .\u2009.\u2009. It was not a loan,\u201d Giuliani added. \u201cSome of it was for taxes, some of it was for incidental expenses, it covered things that might come up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Giuliani said he did not know whether the president knew the details of the work Cohen performed for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have not been able to determine that,\u201d he said. \u201cHe trusted Michael a lot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He said the president\u2019s legal team recently asked a campaign finance lawyer to scrutinize the payment to Daniels, and the lawyer concluded that no laws were broken.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several legal experts said Giuliani\u2019s expansive statements could spur a lawyer \u2014 either a prosecutor or an attorney involved in civil litigation \u2014 to seek to compel him to offer testimony about that discussion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Avenatti, an attorney for Daniels, said he was considering whether to try to seek testimony or other information from Giuliani in a civil case the actress has brought against Cohen and the president.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still in the process of analyzing what he said, and we may very well make that argument, but we want to be thoughtful and strategic about it,\u201d Avenatti said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his statement, Giuliani also said it was \u201cundisputed\u201d that Trump had the constitutional power to fire former FBI director James B. Comey, which he did last year. Trump\u2019s action is among those under scrutiny by Mueller as part of his investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 election.<\/span><\/p>\n

Giuliani appeared to be backing away from an assertion he made earlier this week that the president acted out of frustration that Comey wouldn\u2019t publicly state that the president was not under investigation by the FBI.<\/span><\/p>\n

That statement raised concerns among some legal experts who said that Giuliani seemed to indicate Comey was fired over the Russia investigation \u2014 and that such an admission could further an obstruction-of-justice probe involving the president.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inside the White House, there is sensitivity among counsel Donald McGahn and others about the Comey firing, an official said, and Giuliani\u2019s comments were seen as \u201cnot helpful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

[Kellyanne Conway says she didn\u2019t know about payment to porn star while she ran Trump\u2019s campaign]<\/span><\/p>\n

Senior White House staffers were caught off guard Wednesday by Giuliani\u2019s first appearance on Fox News, when he disclosed that Trump had repaid Cohen. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Thursday that she had not learned about the repayment until seeing Giuliani on television.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Friday, a person close to the White House said Giuliani was still not consulting with McGahn or Flood or the press office.<\/span><\/p>\n

For his part, Trump told associates that he resented media coverage saying he had lied about the Daniels affair after Giuliani revealed the repayment and wanted a statement issued declaring that he had not lied, according to a senior administration official.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s comments that Giuliani was a \u201cgreat man\u201d reminded several current and former officials of Trump\u2019s kiss of death: lavishly praising a subordinate just before the person is fired. But a person close to both men said Giuliani and Trump remained on good terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump also told reporters Friday that if he could be treated fairly, he would \u201clove to speak\u201d to federal prosecutors investigating ties between his campaign and Russia. He said he would do so even over the objections of his lawyers \u2014 if he could be convinced that the Russia probe is not a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to speak. I would love to go,\u201d Trump said. \u201cNothing I want to do more, because we did nothing wrong.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But, he added, \u201cI have to find that we\u2019re going to be treated fairly. .\u2009.\u2009. Right now, it\u2019s a pure witch hunt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/trump-says-hed-love-to-testify-in-russia-probe-if-treated-fairly\/2018\/05\/04\/e2915b48-4fa4-11e8-84a0-458a1aa9ac0a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.cf0957b5f1bd<\/span><\/p>\n

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