‘How does she go to work?’ Sanders slammed after Trump admits he repaid lawyer for $130k Stormy Daniels payment

WHITE House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is under fire after Donald Trump confessed he actually did pay off a porn star - after earlier insisting he didn’t.

WHITE House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is under fire again after Donald Trump finally admitted to reimbursing his lawyer for a payment to a porn star.

The US President confessed he had provided the $130,000 hush money for Stormy Daniels — but insisted it “had nothing to do with” the presidential election campaign.

And Ms Sanders was attacked at Thursday’s White House press briefing, as reporters demanded to know why the public had been repeatedly misled.

In a series of extraordinary tweets, the US President said Michael Cohen “received a monthly retainer ... from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA.”

Mr Trump said such agreements were “very common among celebrities and people of wealth” and he would be claiming damages against Ms Daniels (real name Stephanie Clifford) for violating the “private agreement”.

“Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll [sic] in this transaction,” he added.

Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. These agreements are.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018

...very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair,......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018

...despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair. Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018

It is an astonishing turnaround after his repeated insistence that he had nothing to do with the payment by Mr Cohen to the porn star.

Asked at Thursday’s White House press briefing why Mr Trump had changed his story over the hush payment, Ms Sanders said: “This was information that the President didn’t know at the time but eventually learned.”

When pressed further, Ms Sanders added: “We give the very best information that we have at the time.”

The press secretary was at the centre of a firestorm this week after she was roasted as the President’s enforcer by comedian Michelle Wolf.

Second question of today’s press briefing is about the payment Michael Cohen made to Stormy Daniels. https://t.co/Zch9IqNkou

— Meg Wagner (@megwagner) May 3, 2018

Sanders on whether the White House was in the dark about the Stormy Daniels hush payment: "I've given the best information I had at the time" https://t.co/DbHHCVkdjK

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 3, 2018

"How does Sarah Huckabee Sanders go to work every day if she was sent out there to mislead the American people" asks Republican Rep. Charlie Dent after Giuliani reveals Trump reimbursed Cohen for the Stormy Daniel's payment https://t.co/GlKyrOW14E https://t.co/X3HIire4dj

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) May 3, 2018

After the overnight revelations, a top Republican Trump critic attacked her for “misleading” the country over the payment and said there should be Congressional oversight hearings over the matter.

Charlie Dent told CNN he believed it was time to ask: “How does Sarah Huckabee Sanders go to work every day if she was sent out there to mislead the American people?”

Mr Trump’s shock admission came after his new lawyer Rudy Giuliani revealed on Wednesday that the President had repaid Mr Cohen for the payment to Ms Daniels.

Mr Giuliani appeared to contradict Mr Trump’s statements last month on-board Air Force One, when the Presideent told reporters that he was not aware of the payment and didn’t know where Mr Cohen had got the money, the New York Post reported.

President Donald Trump allegedly repaid $130k to his lawyer Michael Cohen for adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Picture: AFP/ Getty Images

Rudy Giuliani said the President repaid $130,000 to Mr Cohen for payment to Stormy Daniels so she would keep quiet about an alleged affair with Mr Trump during the early years of his marriage to Melania. Picture: AFP/Don Emmert

“Isn’t that closer to the mandate than Michael Cohen, having something to do with paying some Stormy Daniels woman $130,000?” Mr Giuliani said.

“[They] funnelled it through a law firm, and then the President repaid.”

The source of the payment following Ms Daniels’ alleged affair with Mr Trump has been an issue because it could violate campaign finance laws.

But while Mr Trump actually made the payment, Mr Giuliani told Fox News host Sean Hannity that it “is going to turn out to be perfectly legal” because “that money was not campaign money”.

“Trump didn’t know about the specifics of [the agreement], as far as I know,” the lawyer and former New York mayor said later. “But he did know about the general arrangement that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this for my clients. I don’t burden them with every single thing that comes along.”

When asked last month if he knew about the payment to Ms Daniels, Mr Trump said, “No.”

Under further questioning, the President added: “You have to talk to Michael Cohen, he’s my lawyer.”

Ms Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti called the admission “a stunning revelation”.

“Mr Trump evidently has participated in a felony and there must be serious consequences for his conduct and his lies and deception to the American people,” Mr Avenatti said in a statement.