Donald Trump Breaks Silence On Stormy Daniels' Allegations, Says Did Not Know Of $130K Payment
U.S. President Donald Trump says that he was unaware of the payments worth $130,000 made by his lawyer Michael Cohen to American porn Stormy Daniels.
United States President Donald Trump has for the first time commented on the Stormy Daniels allegations. Trump while speaking to American journalists on Air Force One denied knowing anything about the 'hush money' payment made to Adult Film Star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about their alleged affair.
Trump said 'No. I don't know' when asked on Thursday said whether he was aware of the payments worth $130,000 made by his lawyer Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels - real name Stefanie Clifford in exchange for remaining silent on the alleged sexual encounter.
Here is a transcript of the interaction that occurred aboard Air Force One.
Q: Mr. President, did you know about the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels?
THE PRESIDENT: No. No. What else?
Q: Then why did Michael Cohen make those if there was no truth to her allegations?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you’ll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. And you’ll have to ask Michael Cohen.
Q: Do you know where he got the money to make that payment?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I don’t know. No.
Q: Did you ever set up a fund of money that he could draw from?
The back-and-forth lasted only 25 seconds but, is more akin to Trump's style of speaking his mind and hitting back at reports that target him. Trump's advisers have encouraged him to avoid inflaming the issue by addressing it publicly, even as the President was reportedly itching to defend himself. Until now, Trump had avoided answering any questions on Daniels, though the White House has consistently said Trump denies there was a relationship.
Daniels says she had a sexual encounter with the president in 2006 and was paid to keep quiet about it as part of a non-disclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels is now seeking to invalidate that agreement. Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, tweeted in response to Trump on Thursday that, "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," he added, "it is one thing to deceive the press and quite another to do so under oath."
In an earlier press conference, Michael Cohen had said that he himself made the payment to Daniels ahead of the United States Presidential elections in 2016. He also added that neither the Republican Party nor Trump's campaigners were involved in the transaction.
Daniels has publicly detailed the 2006 sexual encounter with Trump. However, the U.S. President had repeatedly denied any relations with the porn star. She recently appeared on CBS' "60 Minutes" and claimed Cohen orchestrated a payment to keep her quiet during the election.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 06, 2018 07:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).