Michael Cohen ‘negotiated’ with pool boy to stop Falwell photos

Michael Cohen has claimed he negotiated with pool boy Giancarlo Granda in 2015 to stop the publication of explicit photographs of Jerry Falwell Jr’s wife Becki, with whom Granda had a six-year affair. 

Cohen, Trump’s former fixer, who was recently released from prison on campaign violations charges, previously said he was involved in the photo scandal. 

He claimed he intervened on Falwell’s behalf to stop the photos from coming out several years ago, but he did not name who was threatening to release them. 

In an interview on Wednesday however with CNN, he claimed it was Granda.  

‘These were personal photos between a husband and wife that Mr. Granda somehow came into possession of. I dealt only with his attorney to ensure that, if Mr. Granda actually did possess them, they would never be released publicly.

‘Jerry and Becki (were) very upset at the prospect of its potential public release,’ he said.

Falwell confirmed to The Washington Post that Cohen was involved, saying: ‘They weren’t fully nude. 

‘They were just pictures of my wife. I was proud of how she looked.’ 

Granda however insists that he never blackmailed or extorted them, nor did he ever have any contact with Cohen. 

His attorney said: ‘Mr. Granda was never involved in any negotiations directly or indirectly with Michael Cohen as it relates to the Falwells. 

‘This includes any negotiations through me as his legal counsel. 

‘Mr. Granda is not the person referred to by Mr. Cohen in the taped recording referenced in the 2019 Washington Post article or in any other publication. 

‘Any suggestion that he is that person is absolutely false as well as any representation that I had any dealings with Mr. Cohen ever.’ 

Cohen’s interjection adds another development to the sordid saga that began on Sunday night, when Jerry gave a long statement to The Washington Examiner, claiming he and his wife were being extorted. 

He did not name Granda, but revealed that Becki had had an affair. He said he’d chosen to forgive her, but that finding out about it upset him so much he lost 80lbs. 

He then claimed that their lawyers had told them to stay in touch and remain friendly with Granda, with whom they run a gay-friendly hostel in Miami. 

Granda, in an interview with Reuters, then claimed that not only did Jerry know about the affair, but that he watched him and Becki having sex. 

He said the trio met in 2012, when he was working as a pool boy at the Fontainebleau in Miami, and says Becki picked him up. 

He claims she told him he needed someone more experienced than the young girls he was talking to and that she brought him to her hotel room, where Jerry was waiting in Speedos. 

The pair then had sex in front of Jerry, he claims.

In 2015, the couple tried to cut ties with Granda by buying him out of their Miami hostel. It coincided with Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign, which they endorsed enthusiastically. 

Granda did not agree to the terms and they remained in business. In 2018, the relationship soured, he said.    

The couple have also had legal issues in the past with Gordon Bello, another young man who claims he had a ‘personal relationship’ with Becki. He said in a lawsuit that he was owed a stake in the hostel. The lawsuit was settled privately for an undisclosed amount last year. 

The couple have also given a former Liberty University student and personal trainer help setting up his own business. Benjamin Crosswhite trained the couple in 2011 and later. In 2016, Liberty gave him a health and fitness center on campus.

The Granda scandal comes after questions and criticism over Jerry’s leadership at the Christian university. 

He was in the past accused of using the university purse to give favors to friends, and disgruntled staffers said he ran it more like a ‘real estate hedge fund’ than a college. 

The university has amassed more than $500million in assets since he took over. Much of it is down to him taking in online students.  

Liberty was founded in 1971 by Jerry’s father, Jerry Falwell Sr., or ‘big Jerry’, as some on campus call him.