White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called it a "ridiculous accusation" to say President Donald Trump had ever lied to the American people over the hush payments his former attorney Michael Cohen made during the 2016 campaign.
Cohen pleaded guilty to eight charges on Tuesday and implicated Trump in a campaign finance violation. He said at the direction of the then-candidate he made payments to two women who claimed to have had prior affairs with Trump in order to keep them from influencing the election—Cohen arranged for Karen McDougal to sell her story for $150,000 to the National Enquirer, who buried it.
Trump said in April he did not know about the $130,000 direct payment by Cohen to porn actress Stormy Daniels, one of the women in question. In May, attorney Rudy Giuliani said Trump paid Cohen back and there was no campaign violation.
"Did President Trump commit a crime?" ABC News reporter Cecilia Vega asked Sanders at Wednesday's briefing.
"As the president's said, we've stated many times he did nothing wrong. There are no charges against him, and we've commented on this extensively," Sanders said.
"Then why not report these payments?" Vega asked.
"Again, I'm not going to get into the back-and-forth details," Sanders said. "I can tell you, as the president has stated on numerous occasions, he did nothing wrong. There are no charges against him in this. Just because Michael Cohen made a plea deal doesn't mean that implicates the president on anything."
"Can you stand here today and say the president has never lied to the American people?" Vega asked. "Because so many people now look back at that tape of him on Air Force One, saying he knew nothing about those payments, when in fact we now know he knew everything about these payments. So has he lied?"
"I think that's a ridiculous accusation," Sanders said. "The president in this matter has done nothing wrong, and there are no charges against him."
Prosecutors said the Trump organization approved $420,000 to Cohen for his services during the election, saying the president's longtime attorney used sham invoices to disguise the nature of the hush payments.