Trump on hush-money payments: 'They didn't come out of the campaign, they came from me'
- President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News that the hush-money payments made by Michael Cohen to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal came directly from him.
- "They didn't come out of the campaign, they came from me," Trump said in a "Fox and Friends" interview set to air on Thursday morning.
- Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, pleaded guilty to eight federal crimes on Tuesday.
- During his plea entry, Cohen said that he made illegal campaign contributions to Daniels and McDougal at the direction of Trump to influence the election.
President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News set to air Thursday that he, not his campaign, funded hush-money payments made by his former attorney to two women who claim to have had affairs with him.
When asked by Fox News' Ainsley Earhardt if he knew about the payments his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, made to the women, adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, Trump said he knew "later on."
"They didn't come out of the campaign, they came from me," Trump said in a "Fox & Friends" interview. Trump then claimed that it did not warrant a campaign violation.
On Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted that the two counts of campaign finance violations to which Cohen pleaded guilty on Tuesday "are not a crime."
Cohen struck a plea deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to eight federal crimes, which included five counts of tax evasion, one count of making an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an illegal campaign finance contribution.
During his plea entry, Cohen said he had made the illegal campaign and corporate contributions "at the direction of the candidate" and with the "purpose of influencing the election."
He did not identify said candidate by name, but the criminal complaint, which refers to said candidate as "individual 1," said that person became president of the United States in January 2017 - meaning it can be only be Trump.
In April, Trump broke his silence on the payment by Cohen to Daniels by denying both that he knew about the payment and where the money came from, statements that were later proven false.