Former mayor Giuliani used his time in the spotlight to spout off on how President Trump can handle confrontations with the Special Counsel.
CHRISTOPHER BRENNAN
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani has found himself at the center of questions about the Russia investigation, and used his time in the spotlight to spout off on how President Trump can handle confrontations with the Special Counsel.
The new member of Trump’s legal team broke news Wednesday when he told Fox News host Sean Hannity that the commander-in-chief had repaid the $130,000 that Michael Cohen paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to be quiet about an alleged affair during the 2016 campaign.
But during a more than 40-minute interview with Hannity Giuliani ranged to a number of issues swirling around the President and a potential interview with Robert Mueller.
Giuliani’s biggest reveal when chatting and backslapping with the Fox host was that Trump, who said earlier this month that he didn’t know about the payment to Daniels, repaid it.
The lawyer mentioned the sum while saying that it could not be a campaign finance violation because it was not campaign money, and that Trump had given Cohen funds to replenish the amount that he said he spent personally.
Giuliani added that Trump „didn’t know about the specifics of it as far as I know but he did know about the general arrangement that Michael would take care of things like this.“
„The president reimbursed that over a period of several months,“ he added, and mentioned the fact that Cohen had a $35,000 retainer with Trump.
Giuliani’s interview with Hannity also saw repeated condemnations of the Mueller probe, which comes as the former mayor is negotiating whether Trump will sit down for an interview in the Russia investigation.
Questions that Mueller wants to ask Trump were reported this week by the New York Times, leading to more clarity on the investigation where the President would likely be pressed about his firing of FBI Director James Comey.
„Those are all questions intended to trap him in some weight and contradicting what is in fact a very, very solid explanation of what happened. He fired Comey because it Comey would not, among other things, say that he wasn’t a target of the investigation,“ Giuliani said.
Criticism of the questions from Giuliani and Hannity centered around the fact that they were open-ended and asked for information such as what Trump thinks about Comey or the Special Counsel.
Trump originally denied firing Comey because of the Russia investigation before admitting in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt shortly afterwards that he had.
Giuliani also said that in the event an interview does not take place, he does not believe a sitting president can be subpoaened in a criminal investigation.
Wednesday also saw a report in POLITICO that Ivanka Trump is a target of the probe, leading Giuliani to wax on about her and the differences between men and women.
„Ivanka Trump? I think I would get on my charger and go right into – run into their offices with a lance if they go after Ivanka,“ he said.
Giuliani had a different standard for Trump’s husband Jared Kushner, a reported target for the Mueller investigation, and said “ Jared is a fine man, you know that. But men are, you know, disposable. A fine woman like Ivanka, come on.“
The new addition to Trump’s legal team also expressed sympathy Hope Hicks, the 29-year-old former White House communications director who resigned after testimony to the House Intelligence Committee in its Russia investigation.
„Yes, she’s very loyal to Donald Trump, but I think the president would say this, she could stand up to him when she had to. What they did to her is outrageous, absolutely outrageous,“ he said.
Giuliani’s started his recent turn on Trump?s team, where he says he arrived because he’s a „friend“ of the President, after circling around the administration in other ways.
He was announced as the administration’s „czar“ for cybersecurity last year, though that came after speculation that he could fill one of its most important positions including Secretary of State.
Giuliani appeared to allude to his desire to be the nation?s top diplomat and an offer to be its top law enforcement officer when asked about Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
„It is my biggest regret — I’m sorry, Jeff, in not having taken that job. I wanted to be secretary,“ he said before being cut off.
Giuliani criticized Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for not ending the Russia probe.
