I am providing the Committee today with several documents. Theseinclude:
• A copy of a check Mr. Trump wrote from his personal bankaccount – after he became president - to reimburse me for thehush money payments I made to cover up his affair with an adultfilm star and prevent damage to his campaign;
• Copies of financial statements for 2011 – 2013 that he gave tosuch institutions as Deutsche Bank;
• A copy of an article with Mr. Trump’s handwriting on it thatreported on the auction of a portrait of himself – he arranged forthe bidder ahead of time and then reimbursed the bidder from theaccount of his non-profit charitable foundation, with the picturenow hanging in one of his country clubs; and
• Copies of letters I wrote at Mr. Trump’s direction that threatenedhis high school, colleges, and the College Board not to release hisgrades or SAT scores.
I hope my appearance here today, my guilty plea, and my work with lawenforcement agencies are steps along a path of redemption that will restorefaith in me and help this country understand our president better.
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Before going further, I want to apologize to each of you and to Congress asa whole.
The last time I appeared before Congress, I came to protect Mr. Trump.Today, I’m here to tell the truth about Mr. Trump.
I lied to Congress about when Mr. Trump stopped negotiating the MoscowTower project in Russia. I stated that we stopped negotiating in January2016. That was false – our negotiations continued for months later duringthe campaign.
Mr. Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress. That’s not how heoperates.
In conversations we had during the campaign, at the same time I wasactively negotiating in Russia for him, he would look me in the eye and tell 5me there’s no business in Russia and then go out and lie to the Americanpeople by saying the same thing. In his way, he was telling me to lie.
There were at least a half-dozen times between the Iowa Caucus inJanuary 2016 and the end of June when he would ask me “How’s it goingin Russia?” – referring to the Moscow Tower project.
