Kellyanne Conway 'Never Heard' About Stormy Daniels Payment as Trump Campaign Manager, She Claims

By Jessica Kwong On 5/4/18 at 10:08 AM EDT

U.S. Kellyanne Conway Stormy Daniels Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani

Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, who was Donald Trump's campaign manager, on Friday claimed ignorance of the $130,000 payment Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair, at the time the transaction occurred.

"I had never heard about that during the campaign," Conway told reporters at the White House, according to The Washington Post. "I was the campaign manager. A lot crossed my desk."

According to CNN, Conway declined to comment on when she learned about the hush payment, which has been a subject of a criminal investigation into Cohen's business deals and prompted Trump to beef up his legal team with attorneys including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Conway said she did not know about the payment all last year while serving in the White House. Her remark suggested that the payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was not made in coordination with high-ranking Trump campaign officials.

The payment drew massive attention after Giuliani on Wednesday revealed Trump paid Cohen back last year—contradicting the president's previous denial of knowing anything about the payoff. Giuliani said the payment had no link to the Trump campaign.

"The money was paid because of the embarrassment in an allegation like this," Giuliani told Fox Business Network on Thursday. "It's more damaging to the person who's innocent, because no one ever forgets it."

Conway has been a staunch defender of the president, but her husband, George Conway, has repeatedly trolled him. On Thursday, after Giuliani revealed that Trump repaid Cohen, George Conway tweeted a Federal Election Commission law pertaining to gifts and loans to candidates, suggesting that the president violated campaign finance laws.