Contradicting President, Giuliani Says Trump Knew About Payment To Stormy Daniels, Repaid Michael Cohen $130K

Rudy Giuliani contradicted previous statements made by President Donald Trump on Wednesday by saying Trump knew about the hush money the president’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid out to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.

Giuliani — a member of Trump’s defense team in Robert Mueller’s Russia probe — also said his longtime friend Trump repaid Cohen the $130,000 he gave to Daniels to force her silence on an affair she had with the former Apprentice star in 2006. However, the former New York City mayor said that the payment did not violate any campaign finance laws, a claim Trump also made.

“I’m giving you a fact that you don’t know,” Giuliani told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “It’s not campaign money. No campaign finance violation. They funneled through a law firm and the president repaid it.”

Giuliani added that Trump reimbursed Cohen in installments of approximately $35,000. Hannity, a Trump supporter, was recently revealed to have secretly hired Cohen to seek legal advice.

SLIDESHOW: DONALD TRUMP’S 30 CRAZIEST TWEETS

If Giuliani be telling the truth about Trump’s knowledge of the payment to Daniels, this would mean the president lied when speaking to reporters on Air Force One last month. Trump then said he was unaware of the hush money given to the porn star.

Speculation has arisen in recent weeks regarding whether or not Cohen will turn on Trump — who has been his client for more than a decade — and testify before federal investigators. Daniels has already sued Trump for defamation of character.

Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti was interviewed by several people this week including CNN’s Don Lemon and late-night comedian Stephen Colbert to discuss the latest developments in the case involving the porn star and Cohen.

In a series of tweets, Avenatti also reveled in Giuliani’s statement, and thanked him and Trump for helping his and Daniels’ case. The attorney also thanked Fox and Friends for helping his side with their coverage of the case.

According to several reports including one from Politico, any payment “intended to protect his campaign from political damage” could constitute a violation of campaign finance law. Furthermore, Politico added, all payments made by any candidate — whether he/she used his/her own funds or not — must always be reported to the Federal Election Commission.

Here is what Trump said in a set of tweets on Wednesday morning to deny an affair with Daniels and the illegality of alleged payments made to her:

Cohen recently said he would plead the Fifth Amendment in Daniels’ lawsuit against him.