The attorney representing adult-film star Stormy Daniels in her defamation case against President Trump lashed out at the president and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, after the former New York mayor released a statement clarifying remarks he made on Fox News.
Michael Avenatti accused the two men of “making it up as they go along” after Giuliani released a statement Friday explaining his comments stating that Trump personally reimbursed his attorney, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 payment made to Daniels days before the election.
Cohen has stated that the payment was meant to silence false allegations about then-candidate Trump in the days before the 2016 election.
“Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Trump are making it up as they go along. Never before has that old adage been more appropriate: “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive” – W. Scott. How stupid do they think all of us are?” he tweeted, adding the hashtag #basta.
Giuliani shocked many in Washington this week when he told Fox’s Sean Hannity that Trump reimbursed Cohen through his retainer fee for the payment that critics have called a campaign finance violation, seemingly negating statements made by both Trump and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
{mosads}“That was money that was paid by his lawyer, the way I would do, out of his law firm funds or whatever funds, it doesn’t matter. The president reimbursed that over a period of several months,” Giuliani said Wednesday.
Trump later suggested that wasn’t fully accurate in quotes to reporters at the White House, saying Giuliani “started yesterday” and will “get his facts straight.”
On Friday, Giuliani attempted to clarify those remarks, claiming that his “references to timing were not describing my understanding of the president’s knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters.”
In an interview with NBC News, Giuliani added that he did not think Trump knew about the payout to Daniels until just weeks ago.
“I don’t think the president realized he paid him back for that specific thing until we made him aware of the paperwork,” he said.