The media thought they had the silver bullet that would finally get Donald Trump impeached.
CNN and other outlets were pushing the idea that a secret $130,000 payment made by Trump attorney Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels was a criminal violation of campaign finance laws.
But Trump shut down this scheme to impeach him in a way that will leave you speechless.
Rudy Giuliani – who is now the President’s attorney – appeared on Sean Hannity’s show and shocked everyone when he revealed that Trump reimbursed Cohen the $130,000.
The media pounced.
Cohen would have still made an illegal loan to the campaign (if it is campaign related)
But now Trump in trouble for not reporting the expenditure (and the repayment of the loan) https://t.co/K6vwsIse4x
— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) May 3, 2018
But they jumped the gun.
Giuliani drove the final nail in the impeachment talk when he declared that Trump made the payments out of his own money—which were made to spare Melania Trump public embarrassment.
Buzzfeed reports:
“It’s not campaign money. No campaign finance violation,” Giuliani told Hannity. “[They] funneled through a law firm, and then the president repaid it.”
In a conversation with BuzzFeed News, Giuliani later said that Cohen, Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, “had complained to some people” after the 2016 election that he’d not been fully paid by Trump. At some point — Giuliani said he did not know when or where specifically — Cohen met with Trump and told him of his complaint. Giuliani said that Trump told Cohen, “We’ll cover your expenses,” and agreed to pay him $35,000 a month “out of his personal funds” over the course of a year-long period that began in the first few months of 2017 and has since ended…
… “Michael saw an opportunity to settle it for not very much money, and he took it,” Giuliani said. Calling it “a payment to remove personal embarrassment to Melania [Trump],” Giuliani said, “I don’t think they thought about it as a campaign thing” — although he acknowledged that others might disagree.
Guiliani revealed that he and Trump spoke prior to the interview and that the President was pleased with how he shut down the nonsensical talk that the payment to Daniels constituted a campaign finance violation.
Giuliani tells me he just spoke w / POTUS. Tonight by phone. President "very pleased," Giuliani says. He says they discussed his revelation of the reimbursements long in advance. Does not expect to be fired. Insists his remarks on FNC were approved by Trump. Story TK.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 3, 2018
Q: The president’s not angry with you? He was aware you’d bring it up?
A: “Oh, yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. He was well-aware that at some point when I saw the opportunity, I was going to get this over with.”
Q: You spoke about this w/ him in recent days?
A: “Probably 4 or 5 days ago"— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 3, 2018
Are you glad Donald Trump crushed this scheme to impeach him?
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
