NEW YORK: Former Mayor of New York and a US Attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was tapped recently to be one of President Trump’s new legal team, made a chaotic debut as potentially exposed his client to legal and political danger, the New York Times reported. By publicly revealing the existence of secret payments to Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, Mr Giuliani may have said more than he said.

The NYT said after Trump moved into the White House, he began paying Mr Cohen $35,000 a month, Mr Giuliani said, in part as reimbursement for a $130,000 payment that Mr Cohen made to a pornographic film actress to keep her from going public about an affair she said she had with Mr Trump. The president confirmed he made payments to Mr Cohen in a series of Twitter posts on Thursday morning.

The explosive revelation, which Mr Giuliani said was intended to prove that Mr Trump and Mr Cohen violated no campaign finance laws, prompted frustration and disbelief among the president’s other legal and political advisers, some of whom said they feared the gambit could backfire, the Times said.

Legally, the failure to disclose the payments could be a violation of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, which requires that federal officials, including Mr Trump, report any liabilities of more than $10,000 during the preceding year. Mr Trump’s last disclosure report, which he signed and filed in June, mentions no debt to Mr Cohen.

AFP adds: An angry Donald Trump dismissed a growing storm over a hush money payment to an adult movie star as “crap” on Friday, as it threatened to become a second front in the president’s deepening legal troubles.

Trump promised to clarify what he called a “very simple” story after his newly recruited lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, revealed the president had reimbursed his personal attorney for the payment to Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2018