Giuliani Cleans Up Comments On Stormy, Comey

Rudolph Giuliani speaks with reporters at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., on Thursday, January 12, 2017. Credit: John Taggart / Pool via CNP - NO WIRE SERVICE - Photo by: John Taggart/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Following the panic trigged by his freewheeling TV interviews earlier this week, in which he acknowledged for the first time that President Trump reimbursed attorney Michael Cohen for the $130,000 paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, former New York City mayor and current Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani released a statement Friday afternoon to “clarify the views I expressed.”

In the statement, he emphasized again that “there is no campaign violation” from the payment to buy Daniels’ silence, made in secret during the final days of the 2016 campaign.

“The payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the President’s family,” Giuliani wrote. “It would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not.”

He then tried to walk back his on-air claim that President Trump was aware of the payment: “My references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President’s knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters.”

He then adds that Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, who he called an “inferior executive officer,” was “well within [Trump’s] Article II power.”

“Recent revelations about former Director Comey further confirm the wisdom of the President’s decision, which was plainly in the best interest of the nation,” he wrote.

Giuliani’s statement came a few hours after Trump suggested to the White House press corps that his newly-hired attorney was misinformed when he appeared on TV to discuss the President’s legal woes.

When Rudy made the statement, Rudy’s great, but Rudy had just started, and he wasn’t totally familiar with everything,” Trump said Friday morning. “We love Rudy, he’s a special guy,” he added.  

Read Giuliani’s full statement below:

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. There it is! Giuliani takes his head out of ass, and not a minute too soon…

  2. Yeah, well, the goddamned horses would like to point out the barn door was in fact left open, and they’re out running around in various pastures regardless what you’re saying.

  3. I’m not surprised. Last night I watched the Giuliani/Hannity episode. It was obvious Giuliani was just blowing things out his ass - true or not.

  4. “I, uh, didn’t say all those damning things I said, so, uh, please forget them.”

    “Whew, glad I got that out of the way. K, we good now?”

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

176 more replies

Participants

Avatar for paulw Avatar for playitagainrowlf Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for old_curmudgeon Avatar for jjwhack Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for winstonsmith Avatar for inversion Avatar for sniffit Avatar for thebigragu Avatar for sparrowhawk Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for alyoshakaramazov1 Avatar for left_in_washington_state Avatar for benthere Avatar for junebug Avatar for pmaroneyb Avatar for lizzymom Avatar for capital2 Avatar for asturcot Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for erik_t Avatar for lasylphide

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: