This is Trump's toilet-bowl commentary on Rudy Giuliani's disclosure last night that Trump repaid Michael Cohen for the $130K he paid Stormy Daniels.
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
This was so stupid, and so obviously against his own legal interests (if true), that he must be trying to divert us from something else. So what's worse? What's bad enough that Trump is deflecting with his attorney's admission that Trump paid off Stormy Daniels in what sounds exactly like the same kind of campaign finance violation he's trying to deny?
as we see trump admit he paid six-figures in hush money to a porn star to cover up an affair, we should remember that barack obama wore a tan suit once pic.twitter.com/jbm1YLjlUD
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) May 3, 2018
Entirely possible we are chasing the wrong shiny object (myself included). Why would Rudy + Trump want to take some blame/heat off Michael Cohen re: Stormy? Are they scared that he’s talking? Considering a deal?
— Nicolle Wallace (@NicolleDWallace) May 3, 2018
We in the media should not report anything this President or White House says on anything including economy, North Korea, Iran, etc until it is independently verified. Our default position should be that what they are saying is likely not true.
— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) May 3, 2018
Never thought I’d ever want Rudy Giuliani to keep talking.
— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) May 3, 2018
Why did Trump, who claims to be worth 10 BILLION DOLLARS, need to repay a $130,000 loan, as Rudy says, "over a period of several months"?
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) May 3, 2018
Rudy tomorrow on Hannity: I was in the hotel room and in fact the prostitutes peed on me. This is a fact and I’m telling you this. There is no campaign finance violation.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 3, 2018
Here's a fun fact: campaign finance law violations over $25k are felonies. The in kind contribution of $130k to Stormy Daniels was over that line. The reimbursement constitutes a separate crime of covering up the true source of a contribution. Also likely banking law violations. https://t.co/H5wydrGL05
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 3, 2018
President's lawyer confessed on TV that president obstructed justice and that isn't even the big news of the night. https://t.co/zJXTuiIxql
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) May 3, 2018
REMINDER: John Edwards was indicted but not convicted b/c they couldn't prove he KNEW about hush payments.
Trump's lawyer just ADMITTED TRUMP KNEW. https://t.co/IWrgunULzV— Jesse Ferguson (@JesseFFerguson) May 3, 2018
Just want to make sure I have this right: so @realDonaldTrump and @PressSec Sanders lied repeatedly about paying hush money to a porn star that @realDonaldTrump also claims he never had sex with. https://t.co/YHPgCYO8Xa
— Joel Benenson (@benensonj) May 3, 2018
Oh my. I explain at @slate why that matters a lot https://t.co/wTLFvwPuPp https://t.co/unfKEuzWxd
— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) May 3, 2018
“Here’s the final draft. Does it sound enough like Mr. Trump?“
“I’d throw in a typo just to be safe.” pic.twitter.com/wd1RIOgVpJ— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) May 3, 2018
