LEGAL/MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/WOMEN: “President Trump on Thursday [5-3-18] directly contradicted his earlier statements that he knew of no payment to Stormy Daniels, the pornographic film actress who says she had an affair with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump said he paid a monthly retainer to his former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, and suggested that the payment by Mr. Cohen to the actress could not be considered a campaign contribution. The president’s comments reiterated an explosive announcement late Wednesday [5-2-18] by one of his recently-hired attorneys, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who said on Fox News that the president reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the payment to the actress Stephanie Clifford, who performs as Stormy Daniels. Though Mr. Giuliani described his interview as part of a strategy, the disclosure caught several Trump advisers by surprise, sending some scrambling on Thursday morning to determine how to confront the situation. In three Twitter posts Thursday morning, the president repeated some of what Mr. Giuliani said a day earlier, specifically that Mr. Trump repaid a $130,000 payment Mr. Cohen made to Ms. Clifford just days before the presidential election in 2016.”
-Eileen Sullivan, Matt Apuzzo and Maggie Haberman, “Trump Says Payment to Stormy Daniels Did Not Violate Campaign Laws,” The New York Times online, May 3, 2018