President Trump told Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt that he didn’t know about payments made by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen to two women who claim to have had affairs with Trump over a decade ago until “later on.”
“Later on I knew. Later on. But you have to understand, what he did — and they weren’t taken out of campaign finance, that’s the big thing,” Trump told Earhardt.
EXCLUSIVE: President @realDonaldTrump on if he knew about the Cohen payments. See more from his interview with @ainsleyearhardt tomorrow 6-9amET. pic.twitter.com/HPJPslOG6X
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 22, 2018
Trump then pointed out President Obama’s “massive campaign violation,” adding “he had a different Attorney General, and they viewed it a lot differently.”
The President referred to this in a Wednesday tweet, writing “President Obama had a big campaign finance violation and it was easily settled!”
Michael Cohen plead guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations that are not a crime. President Obama had a big campaign finance violation and it was easily settled!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018
In 2013, Politico noted:
President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign was fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for campaign reporting violations — one of the largest fees ever levied against a presidential campaign
Granted, even if Trump’s situation does constitute a campaign violation – Obama’s wasn’t for paying off a former Playmate of the Year and a porn star.
In April, Trump claimed that he did not know about a $130,000 hush-payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Asked why his lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid the money if the allegations were untrue, Trump told reporters on Air Force One, “You’ll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael’s my attorney.”
Asked if he knew about the payment to Daniels, Trump said “No.”
Asked if he knew where the money came from to pay Daniels, Trump told reporters, “No, I don’t know.” –Reuters
Trump’s claims, meanwhile, contradict those of Cohen who pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Manhattan federal court – while claiming that Trump instructed him to make the payments.
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