Up to now, President Donald Trump has only denied a sexual relationship with Stormy Daniels through his lawyer. But the president broke his silence on Thursday to flatly deny knowledge of the $130,000 payment his attorney made to the porn actress ahead of the 2016 election.
“No,” Trump told a reporter who asked if he knew about the payment aboard Air Force One, the Hill reported.
After a reporter asked why the lawyer made the payment, Trump said: “You’ll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You’ll have to ask Michael.”
Trump also said he doesn’t know where the $130,000 came from.
“No, I don’t know,” he said.
Reporter: "Mr. President, did you know about the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels?"
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 5, 2018
President Trump: "No." pic.twitter.com/wHTR7o5lqB
Cohen has said that he paid $130,000 out of his own pocket in hush money to Daniels, who reportedly had an affair with Trump in 2006. Daniels is now suing Trump to negate their legal settlement.
Immediately following Trump’s statement, Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti told the New York Times, “Our case just got that much better.” Avenatti also said in a tweet that his team looks forward to “testing the truthfulness of Mr. Trump’s feigned lack of knowledge.”
We very much look forward to testing the truthfulness of Mr. Trump's feigned lack of knowledge concerning the $130k payment as stated on Air Force One. As history teaches us, it is one thing to deceive the press and quite another to do so under oath. #searchforthetruth #basta
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 5, 2018
H/T the Hill