Giuliani Said Some Things on Hannity
Rudy Giuliani made some comments on Hannity Wednesday night that will no doubt be the topic discussion in the days to come. Contradicting the President, he had some rather astonishing statements.
CNN:
Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that President Donald Trump paid back his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, the $130,000 in hush money that was used to pay off Stormy Daniels.
The payment is going to turn out to be “perfectly legal,” Giuliani said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“That money was not campaign money, sorry,” Giuliani said. “I’m giving you a fact now that you don’t know. It’s not campaign money. No campaign finance violation.”
Hannity replied: “Because they funneled it through the law firm?” To which Giuliani said: “Funneled it through the law firm, and the President repaid him.”
This, of course, is problematic at best:
Here is the moment when Trump said he had no idea about the Stormy Daniels hush money payment.
It was so blatant that he was lying then. Rudy Giuliani just admitted it on national television. I'm dead. ???pic.twitter.com/0XpVnuOezT
— Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) May 3, 2018
Trump stood in Air Force One 3 weeks ago and told the American people he knew NOTHING about any payment his lawyer made to Stormy Daniels.
2nite, Rudy Giuliani said Trump reimbursed his lawyer for that payment to Stormy Daniels.
Either Trump is lying or Rudy just lost his job.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) May 3, 2018
In his first week on the job, Rudy Giuliani has contradicted his own client's public statements about Comey and Cohen.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) May 3, 2018
More from CNN:
In the same interview, Giuliani also called ex-FBI Director James Comey a “disgraceful liar,” and said he thinks Comey should be prosecuted.
“I know James Comey. I know the President. Sorry Jim, you’re a liar — a disgraceful liar,” Giuliani said.
Giuliani then went on to say that “every FBI agent in America has his head down,” because of Comey.
Comey and Trump have had a tumultuous relationship following Comey’s firing. Comey recently published a memoir, which detailed his encounters with the President, and has said he thinks Trump is “morally unfit” for the presidency.
Trump, in turn, has also repeatedly sounded off on Comey via social media.
Prior to Comey’s book release, Trump even insinuated Comey should go to jail, tweeting: “The big questions in Comey’s badly reviewed book aren’t answered like, how come he gave up Classified Information (jail), why did he lie to Congress (jail), why did the DNC refuse to give Server to the FBI (why didn’t they TAKE it), why the phony memos, McCabe’s $700,000 & more?”
Giuliani echoed that suggestion on Fox News, telling Hannity that Comey should be prosecuted.
“Comey should be prosecuted for leaking confidential FBI information when he leaked his report intended to develop a special prosecutor for the President of the United States,” Giuliani said.
Some of the clips:
Rudy Giuliani, who is joining Trump's legal team, just admitted on national TV that Trump paid the $130,000 in hush money to Stormy Daniels after weeks of Trump denying it & dodging the question. pic.twitter.com/ZUdxzOFgb1
— jordan (@JordanUhl) May 3, 2018
Rudy Giuliani on @Comey: "Sorry Jim, you're a liar. A disgraceful liar." #Hannity pic.twitter.com/f1wVWddjY7
— KOKE REPORT (@KokeReport) May 3, 2018
Rudy Giuliani on @HillaryClinton: "I know you're very disappointed you didn't win, but you're a criminal." #Hannity pic.twitter.com/4c3GoDmEYQ
— Peter Martucci AMERICA?FIRST (@martucci_peter) May 3, 2018
Rudy Giuliani: "If they issue a subpoena [for @POTUS], that will be unprecedented." #Hannity pic.twitter.com/ciCtu8hWKO
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 3, 2018
President Trump responded on Twitter the following morning:
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. These agreements are…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018
…very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair,……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018
…despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair. Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018
What say you? Login and Comment.
And Rudy said some more stuff this morning
https://twitter.com/brianbeutler/status/992025622011699200?s=19
Report
So, put those together, and Giuliani is publicly insisting that no campaign finance laws were violated, because… Trump covertly funneled non-campaign funds… to campaign-related expenses.
Would trump have been better off hiring a dog in a suit from one of those “I have no idea what I’m doing” memes?Report
What’s so incompetent is that to avoid running afoul of campaign laws the one thing they can’t say is that the payoff had anything to do with his desire to be president; they have to have iron discipline to say that his only motivation was hurting Melania (or some such private thing).
Then the onus would be on the prosecution to prove that it was related to the campaign… to which Team Trump could just say, “Really… we had a tape about grabbing lady parts and still won.” And honestly, they’d have a point.
Unless of course, the agreement itself stipulates thing about the presidential election, etc. At which point… I don’t see why they don’t just go… “whelp… we’re new to this whole campaign funding thing…I guess this does fit a goods/services model if you extend it that way… mea culpa…what’s the fine for that?”Report
I take it back, he knows exactly what he’s doing.
Then again, maybe not.
I mean really… doesn’t anyone have John Edwards’ number for at least a consult?Report
I believe I count at least three violations there. There’s the fact that it wasn’t reported, there’s the fact that a loan (esp. an interest free one) is an in-kind donation even if repaid, and of course there’s the fact that what you’ve got here is a straw donor set up to avoid campaign finance limits.
Then there was admitting obstruction of justice, yet again, and I believe Cohen just got shoved under the bus.
So, yeah, that’s a pretty awesome debut there Giuliani.Report
Rudy apparently said Kushner is “disposable”. A “fine man” but men are “disposable” unlike Ivanka. So there is that. Whether that is some subtle family message to Jared or just Rudy being clueless who knows. But never bet against the answer being Rudy a loud mouth clueless mook 20 years past his sell by date.Report
Who was it that said the most dangerous place in America was between Rudy and a microphone?Report
Those tweets look like they were a collaboration between someone who can write and Donald Trump. At any rate, who pays someone $130,000 to keep quiet about an affair than never happened?Report
More fun news. Apparently Cohen’s been under wire tap, and that includes at least one White House call.Report
The thing that bothers me the most is that our president doesn’t know how to spell “role”.Report