Trump insists hush money payments were legal

International Desk: US President Donald Trump has insisted that payments to two women who say he had affairs with them did not break election campaign rules.

It comes after his ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to violating laws during the 2016 presidential election over his handling of the hush money.

Interviewed by Fox & Friends, Mr Trump said the payments had come from him personally, not from the campaign.

He has in the past denied knowing about one of the payments altogether.

Mr Trump also accused Cohen of making up stories to receive a lighter sentence.

In an excerpt from the Fox & Friends interview, which will be aired in full on Thursday, Mr Trump responded to questions about the hush payments by insisting that they were "not a campaign violation".

"They came from me," he said. "And I tweeted about it. But they did not come out of the campaign."

He added that he had only found out about the payments "later on".

His comments contradict a statement made earlier by Cohen under oath in which he said the president had instructed him to make the payments.

In July, Cohen released audio tapes of him and Mr Trump allegedly discussing one of the payments before the election.

Source: BBC

risingbd/Dhaka/August 23, 2018/A K Azad