Trump's ex-lawyer could have paid other women, says Rudy Giuliani

Washington: US President Donald Trump's former personal attorney could have made payments to women other than adult film star Stormy Daniels if "necessary", his new lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on Sunday.

Appearing on a Sunday talk show, Giuliani exuded confidence that Trump would come out clean on the issue and this is unlikely to affect his presidency. Former New York mayor Giuliani succeeded Michael Cohen as the new personal attorney for Trump.

"I have no knowledge of that but I would think if it was necessary, yes," Giuliani told ABC News in an interview. He was asked if Cohen made payments to other women for Trump. "He (Cohen) made payments for the president, or he conducted business for the president, which means he had legal fees, monies laid out and expenditures, which I have on my bills to my clients,” Giuliani said.

"Are you confident that his testimony and the Stormy Daniels payment won't contradict the president?” he was asked. "Not in any material respect. If it didn't contradict it at all, then somebody would be lying. I remember that great cross examination when the person just repeated the things over and over again the same way. Of course there'll be minor details," he noted.

"On the two main facts, was it for another purpose other than just campaign, even if it was campaign? Yes. It was to settle a personal issue that would be embarrassing to him and his wife. Number two, did he repay it over a period of time and then find out ultimately what it was about? Yes," Giuliani said. "I'm comfortable with that. That's 100 per cent. That's why these people who think they're chasing this down are involved in the same witch hunt that Judge Ellis was so concerned about with (ex-FBI director) Robert Mueller," he said.

During the interview, Giuliani said that people do not go away with USD 130,000 for a meritorious claim. Days before the presidential elections, Daniels received USD 130,000 from Trump's personal attorney Cohen so as not to go public with her alleged intimate encounter with Trump years ago. Giuliani did not deny an old picture of Trump and Daniels appearing in the media, but appeared to have strongly refuted the allegations against the president.

"I know this sounds funny to people there at home. I never thought USD 130,000 was a real payment, it's a nuisance payment. When it was real or a real possibility, it's a couple million dollars, not USD 130,000," he asserted.