Trump Finally Addresses Stormy Daniels Story - Her Lawyer Is Thrilled

President Donald Trump claimed Thursday that he did not know about the $130,000 hush money payout to adult film actor and director Stephanie Clifford, professionally known as Stormy Daniels. The payment occurred just days before the 2016 election and has raised serious legal questions.

Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen has said that he made the payment to Clifford without the president's knowledge. After Trump told a reporter on Air Force One that he did not know about the payment, the reporter asked why Cohen would have made the payment on his own.

"Well, you'll have to ask Michael Cohen," he said. "Michael is my attorney. And you'll have to ask Michael Cohen."

Michael Avenatti, Clifford's attorney, was delighted with Trump's responses to the questions.

"Good (actually GREAT) things come to those who wait!!!" he tweeted. "The strength of our case just went up exponentially. You can't have an agreement when one party claims to know nothing about it."

Confusingly, Avenatti said in another tweet that he thought Trump was lying about not knowing about the payment. It's not clear whether Avenatti thinks it's better if Trump is lying or if he's telling the truth.

Either way, it's bad for Trump.

If the president is telling the truth and he didn't know about the payment, he's shown incredibly bad judgment by keeping Cohen on as his attorney.

If Trump is lying, he may be on the road to perjury, even as he's actively misleading the American people.