Fox News host Laura Ingraham blasted President Donald Trump’s new legal analyst and spokesman Rudy Giuliani, for contradicting Trump’s claims that he didn’t know about payments his personal attorney Michael Cohen allegedly made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels. Ingraham said that Giuliani’s televised comments were “a problem” because they contradicted what the president had earlier said about the matter.
Giuliani joinedTrump’s legal team last month and appeared on Fox News with Sean Hannity on Wednesday. He said that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 payment made to Daniels to stay quiet about their alleged sexual relationship many years ago.
Ingraham’s Fox News show is aired immediately following Hannity’s. On it, she discussed Giuliani’s comments at length and also showed a video clip of President Trump talking to reporters on Air Force One on the 6th of last month. During this discussion he said that he didn’t know about the payment and that if a payment was made, it was done by Cohen without his knowledge.
“Did Trump pay it after April 6th?” Ingraham asked. “The left is jumping all over that tonight, saying, ‘What the heck? He did know, he didn’t know? Rudy’s on TV?’ What’s going on here?”
“You have the president on tape on Air Force One saying he did not know about the payment, and you’ll have to ask Michael Cohen about that,” Ingraham said. “Rudy just goes on with Hannity and says ‘Oh no, he reimbursed them.’”
“I love Rudy, but they better have an explanation for that,” she added. “That’s a problem.”
And of course, Ingraham is absolutely correct. What Trump said is a problem because he lied. And what Giuliani said is a problem because he told the truth, which nobody expected and clearly Trump did not want him to do. One of the worst sins you can commit in Washington, D.C. is to tell the truth when it is unexpected.
Giuliani said during the interview that the payment didn’t violate campaign finance laws, which may not be correct. Cohen has previously asserted said that the money for the payment came out of his own pocket, and was financed with a home equity loan.
This entire fiasco raises some interesting questions. Per the Washington Post:
“[This] all leads to the question: Why not just admit it? If you’ve got nothing to hide and all this is on the up-and-up, why avoid the question for months and offer the two non-denial denials above. (For more on why this could be a campaign finance violation, see here.) The inescapable conclusion, now that Cohen faces significant legal jeopardy, is that Trump’s team is either trying to get ahead of what might come of that case, or that it might be trying to soften the blow for a witness (Cohen) who could flip on them.”
Like Trump, Giuliani is a loose cannon who talks too much, and the more he talks the more trouble he causes. Trump has both legal and political problems, and the new addition to his legal team may have made all of his problems much worse. It remains to be seen how Rudy’s comments will play out over time, but as of right now they appear to be a disaster.
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