President Trump's newest attorney, Rudy Giuliani, issued a clarification Friday afternoon after he contradicted the president during an appearance on Hannity on Wednesday. Giuliani had announced on TV that Trump reimbursed his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump had previously told reporters he did not know about the payment, and following Giuliani's remarks, the president said formally 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."
Giuliani reiterated a similar point Friday. "These are my views," he wrote. "First: There is no campaign violation. The payment [to Daniels] was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the president's family." In his second point, Giuliani writes: "My references to timing were not describing my understanding of the president's knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters."
Giuliani also has a third point: that Trump's dismissal of former FBI Director James Comey "was clearly within his Article II power." Read the full statement below. Jeva Lange
The Week
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