Rudy Giuliani details Trump's Stormy Daniels repayment scheme, fails to clear him of campaign violations
After telling Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday night that President Trump repaid his lawyer Michael Cohen for having quietly "funneled" $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels in October 2016 to secure her silence about a purported affair with Trump, Rudy Giuliani elaborated on the repayment scheme to various reporters, arguing that the details clear Trump of any campaign finance violations.
"Some time after the campaign is over, they set up a reimbursement, $35,000 a month, out of his personal family account," Giuliani, a new addition to Trump's legal team, told The New York Times. In total, Trump reimbursed Cohen $460,000 or $470,000 for the Daniels payment, which Cohen made "on his own authority," and other "incidental expenses," Giuliani said, adding that he was "not clear that" Trump knew about the Daniels payment at the the time.
Giuliani told The Washington Post that Cohen knew he would get paid back eventually. "There probably were other things of a personal nature that Michael took care of for which the president would have always trusted him as his lawyer," he said. Trump and he had discussed disclosing Trump's repaying Cohen, and "he was well aware that at some point when I saw the opportunity, I was going to get this over with," Giuliani added. He told The Wall Street Journal that Trump was "very pleased" with the Hannity interview, because "we finally got our side of the story."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The admission that Trump repaid Cohen "removes the campaign finance violation," Giuliani told the Times, but campaign finance experts disagreed. If Cohen paid Daniels without being reimbursed to protect Trump during the campaign, that would likely be an illegal campaign contribution; if Trump paid him back, it could be considered an unreported campaign loan; and "Giuliani suggesting it was funneled through the firm as legal fees," Larry Noble at the Campaign Legal Center tells the Post, "is evidence of an intent to hide the source, which could make it knowing and willful, which is criminal."
"Everyone in Trump world will see this as a total unforced error and further affirmation that hiring Rudy wasn't the best idea," a Trump adviser tells the Post.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Testosterone therapy in women highlights the lack of women’s health researchThe explainer There is no FDA-approved testosterone product for women
-
Magazine solutions - November 7, 2025Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - November 7, 2025
-
Magazine printables - November 7, 2025Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - November 7, 2025
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
