How the story changed...

Behind Trump allies' shifting explanations of 2016 payoffs to women

By THEODORIC MEYER

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations Tuesday, saying he made hush-money payments to two women at Trump's direction and "for the purposes of influencing the” 2016 election.

His comments in court Tuesday were the latest in a shifting series of explanations from the president's allies about the payments to Stephanie Clifford, a porn actress widely known as Stormy Daniels, and Karen McDougal, both of whom have said they had affairs with Trump.

Here’s a guide to the evolving statements of everyone involved.

Jan. 12: Cohen calls affair allegation “outlandish”

The Wall Street Journal reported that Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 shortly before the 2016 election. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Journal at the time that the affair allegations were “old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election.”

Cohen called the affair allegations “outlandish” and accused The Journal of trying “to perpetuate this false narrative for over a year.” Neither Cohen nor the White House official commented on whether Cohen had paid off Daniels or whether Trump knew about the payment.

Feb. 13: Cohen says "I used my own personal funds" to pay Daniels

Cohen said in a statement that neither "the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was party to the transaction" and he said he was not reimbursed for the payment "either directly or indirectly."

"In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford," Cohen said.

March 5: Cohen calls reporting on payment “Fake News”

The Wall Street Journal reported that Cohen wired the money to Daniels’ lawyer on Oct. 27, 2016, just 12 days before the election, and that Cohen said at the time that he missed two earlier deadlines to pay Daniels because he couldn’t reach Trump during the final weeks of the campaign, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Cohen responded to The Journal’s request for comment with a two-word emailed statement: “Fake News.”

March 7: Sanders: Trump had “no knowledge” of payment

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, asked at a press briefing whether Trump knew at the time about the payment to Daniels, responded: “Not that I’m aware of,” according to a White House transcript.

Sanders added that she had spoken to Trump about the matter, saying “there was no knowledge of any payments from the president, and he’s denied all of these allegations.”

April 5: Trump says he didn’t know about the payment

Asked on Air Force One whether he knew about the payment to Daniels, Trump responded with one word: “No.”

A reporter asked why Cohen made the payment. “You’d have to ask Michael,” Trump said. “Michael’s my attorney and you’ll have to ask Michael.”

When another reporter asked if Trump knew where Cohen got the money to make the payment, Trump responded, “No, I don’t know.”

April 26: Trump says Cohen “represented” him in deal

In a telephone interview with “Fox & Friends,” Trump said Cohen “represented” him in “this crazy Stormy Daniels deal.”

“From what I see, he did absolutely nothing wrong,” Trump continued. “There were no campaign funds going into it, which would have been a problem.”

“Then why is he pleading the Fifth?” Fox's Ainsley Earhardt asked.

“Because he’s got other things,” Trump replied. “He’s got businesses. And from what I understand, they’re looking at his businesses.”

“I’m not involved,” Trump added.

May 2: Giuliani: Trump knew “about the general arrangements”

In an interview on Fox News, Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s lawyers, told Sean Hannity that Trump “didn’t know about the specifics” of the payment to Daniels. “But he did know about the general arrangements," he said.

“It’s not campaign money,” he added. “No campaign finance violation. They funneled through a law firm and the president repaid it.”

The following morning, Trump wrote in a series of tweets that Cohen “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.”

“The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations” Daniels made about the alleged affair, he wrote.

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

Sanders, meanwhile, said she didn’t know that Trump had repaid Cohen until she saw Giuliani’s interview. “The first awareness I had was during the interview last night,” she said.

July 24: Tape appears to show Trump discussing possible McDougal payment

Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, provided a secret recording to CNN that appeared to show Trump discussing the logistics of a payment to McDougal, a former Playboy model who has also said she had an affair with Trump. The tape showed no mention of the Daniels payment.

Aug. 21: "I participated in the conduct for the purposes of influencing the election," Cohen says

Cohen, who once said he would take a bullet for Trump, flipped on his former boss in court Tuesday.

Cohen said one payment, for $150,000, was made during "summer of 2016, in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office." The other, for $130,000, was made around October at the direction of the same candidate.

Deputy U.S. attorney Robert Khuzami said outside the New York City courthouse that Cohen sought reimbursement from that candidate's company.

Court documents describe that person as "Individual-1" — and say the person would "become the president of the United States."