If Trump had NOT repaid Cohen, then Cohen could be in jeopardy for making a "gift" to Trump without paying gift taxes. Also, given the timing, the Feds could construe this as an "in kind" campaign contribution, which could also screw Cohen.
So, Trump did the proper thing... he reimbursed Cohen for expenses made on his behalf. Rudy simply set the record straight on that, thus relieving Cohen of any concern over the issue.
> So, Trump did the proper thing... he reimbursed Cohen for expenses made on his behalf. Rudy simply set the record straight on that, thus relieving Cohen of any concern over the issue.
This is close. Cohen was on retainer as a ‘fixer’ - some fixes aren’t relayed. Trump ‘knew’ of it at least from the news and he advanced the idea in a comment on Fox and Friends before Rudy, who was the follow-up to that.
“He has a percentage of my overall legal work, a tiny, tiny little fraction, but Michael would represent me and represent me on some things. He represents me like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal, he represented me. You know, from what I see, he did absolutely nothing wrong.”