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Trump reimburses lawyer who paid porn star Stormy Daniels

May 17, 2018

The president said he did not have to acknowledge the reimbursement, but did so "in the interest of transparency." His lawyer has said he paid porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an affair she had with Trump.

https://p.dw.com/p/2xrBj
Michael Cohen
Image: picture-alliance/newscom/UPI/J. Angelillo

US President Donald Trump officially admitted on Thursday for the first time that he repaid his former personal lawyer up to $250,000 (€210,000), but did not explicitly say what the reimbursement was for.

The disclosure has raised fresh questions as to whether the payment covered hush money to silence Stormy Daniels, a former porn star who claims to have had an affair with Trump.

Read more: Stormy Daniels: Trump lawyer 'paid $130,000' to porn actress

Trump's disclosure:

The president's 2018 financial disclosure report published on Wednesday said:

  • Trump repaid Michel Cohen for "expenses" ranging from $100,001 to $250,000.
  • The president was not obliged to mention the payment, but decided to do so "in the interest of transparency."
  • In an accompanying letter to the Justice Department, the head of the US government ethics office, David Apol, questioned why Trump did not mention the repayment in his 2017 financial disclosure report.

Trump changes story on Stormy Daniels payment

'The American people were deceived'

Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump's current lawyers, told Fox News Channel that the repayment did not have "to be disclosed at all because I think it was an expenditure that he reimbursed."

The lawyer for Stormy Daniels, Michael Avenatti, wrote on Twitter, "Mr. Trump's disclosure today conclusively proves that the American people were deceived.This was NOT an accident and it was not isolated. Cover-ups should always matter."

Democrat lawmaker Elijah Cummings, who serves on the US House of Representatives Oversight Committee, said, "President Trump was required by law to report that he ‘funneled’ money through Michael Cohen to reimburse a secret payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, but he concealed these payments, and we still do not know why."

Murky dealings: Cohen has said he paid $130,000 out-of-pocket to Daniels to buy her silence ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has previously denied knowing about that payment or reimbursing Cohen. But Giuliani said  in early May that the president had indeed repaid Cohen.

amp/rt (AP, Reuters)