The White House says President Trump continues to have confidence in his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani following the former New York City mayor’s exit from his law firm on Thursday.
Trump is “content and satisfied with Rudy Giuliani,” White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah told reporters on Air Force One en route to a rally in Indiana on Thursday evening.
Shah said the White House “doesn’t have a reaction” to news that Giuliani, one of the newest members of Trump’s personal legal team, has permanently separated from his law firm.
Giuliani said he left the international law firm Greenberg Traurig to focus on the “pressing demands” of dealing with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Trump campaign associates and Russia. Giuliani previously took a leave of absence from the firm upon joining Trump’s legal team last month.
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But his exit came a week after Giuliani made a series of explosive comments to the press about the president’s legal battles, including about a payment from longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to adult-film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election that Giuliani said Trump reimbursed.
Greenberg Traurig released a statement Thursday rejecting Giuliani’s defense of the $130,000 payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, which was intended to keep her quiet about an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.
“We cannot speak for Mr. Giuliani with respect to what was intended by his remarks,” a spokeswoman for the law firm said in a statement. “Speaking for ourselves, we would not condone payments of the nature alleged to have been made or otherwise without the knowledge and direction of a client.”
Trump reigned in Giuliani last week after Giuliani contradicted statements by Trump and the White House that Trump had repaid Cohen for paying the porn star to keep quiet about the affair before the election.
“He’ll get his facts straight. He’s a great guy,” Trump told reporters last week.