CNN's Jim Acosta pressed Sarah Sanders on the timeline relating to the $130,000 payment.
At Thursday's press briefing, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked a number of pointed questions about the revelation that President Trump had reimbursed attorney Michael Cohen for the $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who had an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. CNN's Jim Acosta pressed Sanders on the matter, first asking, "The president did talk about monthly retainers in his tweet and then Rudy Giuliani said that the president only knew about this 10 days to two weeks ago."
"How can you only be aware of something 10 days to two weeks ago, but at the same time be in the process of paying monthly retainers that apparently covered this reimbursement to Michael Cohen," Acosta further noted. Sanders declined to reply, saying she "can't get in the details of the ongoing litigation." Acosta then inquired, "You said on March 7, there was no knowledge of any payments from the president and he's denied all of these allegations. Were you lying to us at the time or were you in the dark?" "The president has denied and continues to deny the underlying claim," Sanders stated. "And again, I've given the best information I had at the time."
From there, the two largely talked over one another, with Acosta apparently seeking clarity with statements and questions including, "That puts you in the dark…You didn't know at the time…Why can't you just answer yes or no? I think it's a fairly simple question." Sanders referred to her earlier statement, commenting, "I think it's a fairly simple answer that I've given actually several times now."
"I gave you the best information that I had and I'm gonna continue to do my best to do that every single day," she also remarked.
