White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that she first learned that President Trump repaid the hush money for porn star Stormy Daniels when the rest of America did — when the president’s attorney revealed it on TV interview the night before.
“The first awareness I had was during the interview last night,” said Mrs. Sanders, who previously stuck by the president’s story that he wasn’t involved in the payoff.
The president’s new personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, revealed in an interview on Fox News’ “Hannity” that the president repaid the $130,000.
The payment to Ms. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is at the center of a federal criminal investigation of Mr. Trump’s longtime lawyer Michael Cohen.
The admission by Mrs. Sanders showed that she was kept out of the loop about the payment.
Under a barrage of questions about the payment and what she knew, Mrs. Sanders said she always provided “the best information that I had and I will continue to do that every day.”
She said Mr. Trump continues to deny he had a sexual relationship with Mrs. Daniels, who was paid the $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement just days before the 2016 presidential election.
“The president denied and continues to deny the underlying claim,” Mrs. Sanders said of the alleged affair.
According to comments Mr. Giuliani made Thursday, Mr. Trump repaid Mr. Cohen in $40,000 installments that were a routine monthly retainer for legal work and only later learned that the money covered the payment to Ms. Daniels.
Questioned about how Mr. Trump could be in the dark about what he was paying for, Mrs. Sanders referred to Mr. Giuliani’s statement.
“This was information the president did not know at the time but eventually learned,” she said.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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