White House struggles to contain fallout from 'hush money' to porn actress

The White House is struggling to contain the fallout from a widening scandal involving a pre-election payment Donald Trump’s personal lawyer made to an adult movie actress in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with the president.

Washington plunged into chaos after Trump’s new attorney, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, disclosed that the president reimbursed his longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels.

The revelation contradicted the president's previous claim that he had no knowledge of the payment, raising questions about his commitment to the truth.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she first learned of the reimbursement at the same time the public did-- through Giuliani’s interview with Fox News.

PressTV-'Trump reimbursed porn actress hush money'

Trump's close friend has made a revelation that might expose the president to criminal prosecution over his affair with Stormy Daniels.

“The first awareness I had was during the interview last night,” she said at her daily press briefing.

Asked about the payment to Daniels, Sanders insisted again that “there was no knowledge of any payments from the president.”

The response prompted a barrage of questions from reporters who pressed Sanders about the stream of misleading information coming from the White House.

“We give the very best information that we have at the time,” she said. “I do that every single day and will continue to do that every day I'm in this position.”

The payment was made during Trump’s presidential campaign, raising speculation that Cohen used campaign funds to silence Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Cohen insists that he paid the porn actress out of his own pocket and neither Trump nor his campaign reimbursed him afterwards.

Trump, however, admitted Thursday to reimbursing his lawyer for the $130,000 payment to Daniels.

The president had previously claimed the payment was entirely arranged by Cohen.

Trump, however, denied any sexual encounter with Daniels and claimed the payment was in no way connected with his 2016 election campaign.

The statement by Giuliani was designed to protect Trump from being charged with possible violations of campaign finance charges.

But legal experts said it opened a Pandora's Box that could expose both Trump and Cohen to criminal prosecution.

Daniels has sued both Trump and Cohen, accusing them of defamation. She also argues that the nondisclosure agreement between Cohen and her is invalid because Trump never signed it.

Cohen, who has facilitated multiple business deals and legal maneuvers for Trump over the past several years, is currently under federal criminal investigation over the payment to Daniels and fraud.

It is not clear how long the monitoring of phone calls has been authorized, but NBC News has learned it was in place in the weeks leading up to the

Early in April, FBI agents raided Cohen's offices, hotel room, and home, seizing documents including the 2016 payment to Daniels. Federal investigators had monitored Cohen's phone lines in the weeks leading up to the FBI raids, according to NBC News.

PressTV-Trump denies personal lawyer Cohen will 'flip'

The US president insists his long-time personal lawyer Michael Cohen would not 'flip' on him while under federal criminal investigation.

Giuliani has reportedly warned Trump that Cohen is likely to "flip on him" during the course of the investigation, something the president has rejected.

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