Donald Trump's new lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Fox friends expose untruths in Stormy Daniels saga
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United States President Donald Trump has bragged about a crushing winning record in the estimated 3,500 legal cases he has been involved in over the past three decades, but Stormy Daniels has him twisted in knots.
The determined porn star, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, and her made-for-cable television lawyer Michael Avenatti have proved implacable foes and Mr Trump's lawyers have scored some huge own goals.
For those who have not been paying attention, Ms Daniels was paid $130,000 days before the US election to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Mr Trump back in 2006 (he denies the affair took place).
On Air Force One on April 5, the President offered the seemingly implausible explanation that his lawyer Michael Cohen made the payment without his knowledge or reimbursement.
They defied everyone's experience of litigation as an expensive, almost never-ending sinkhole for hard-earned cash.
Those first payments had many wondering where one could find a lawyer who not only made payments on your behalf to fix problems, but never sent you a bill.
Then last night Mr Trump's latest lawyer Rudy Giuliani spectacularly blew up that explanation on the friendly territory of Sean Hannity's program on Fox News (remember Hannity was outed as Mr Cohen's mystery third client).
Mr Giuliani revealed the truth that the relationship between Mr Trump and Mr Cohen was more conventional and his lawyer had racked up billable hours.
It was a stunning admission and one that was seized on by Daniels' media-savvy lawyer Mr Avenatti.
In a series of tweets that appear to have been drafted by a lawyer (Mr Giuliani perhaps), Mr Trump confirmed that was true while trying to avoid the obvious legal pitfall by declaring the payment did not breach campaign finance laws.
Mr Giuliani appeared to contradict himself on that point on Hannity — saying the payment was to avoid personal pain in his home life while also speculating about how it would have looked if the (alleged) affair was made public before an election debate.
Political opponents have already filed a lawsuit alleging the payment violated the law because it was an undeclared campaign expense.
Under campaign laws violations have to be "knowing and wilful", which is why Mr Giuliani's comments caused such a stir.
The disclosure does not mean Mr Trump will be prosecuted, much less convicted, but the failure to at least get a story straight and stick to it will ensure the tale of the President and the porn star remains front of mind.
And if the alibi runs into that much trouble in the friendly surrounds of a Hannity interview, how would it hold up under the glare of an investigation?
Still, Mr Trump has been something of a Teflon Don surviving the release of the access Hollywood tapes — a scandal that would have killed most candidates.
For now though investigators are cataloguing records seized from Mr Cohen, who faces prosecution.
Ms Daniels is doing Mr Trump more harm than his rivals in the Democratic and Republican parties combined.
While the President suffers, Daniels continues to profit and build on her reputation as one of the biggest names in the industry.
In February she released a film called Stormy Trumps All.
Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, donald-trump, courts-and-trials
