In Show of Support, Trump Meets With Giuliani Over Lunch
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Oct 14, 2019
In a Saturday morning tweet, Trump praised Giuliani, calling him a "legendary "crime buster" and greatest Mayor in the history of NYC".
Parnas lawyer, John Dowd, who has also represented President Trump, said he did not know anything about their interactions and declined to answer further questions, per Politico. The lawyer confirmed to the newspaper earlier Thursday that Parnas and Fruman were going Vienna for matters "related to their business", however stated he planned on meeting the pair after they had returned to the U.S. By Giuliani's account, the three could be in the same city however do no business with one another.
According to Ross Garber, one of the nation's leading impeachment attorneys, the Giuliani situation stands to have enormous consequences for the President, whose only option at this point is to completely sever his professional and social ties to Giuliani, effective immediately. He said that if prosecutors are investigating and leaked it to the media, that would be an indication they are "politically motivated".
A whistleblower complaint about Trump's dealings with Ukraine led Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to open an impeachment inquiry into the president.
"Well, I don't know".
Mr. Giuliani has acknowledged that he and two of his associates, who were arrested on campaign finance charges on Wednesday, worked with Ukrainian prosecutors to collect potentially damaging information about targets of Mr. Trump and his allies, including a former American ambassador to Ukraine and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his younger son, Hunter Biden.
The former mayor said on Friday he was. "He's a very good attorney, and he has been my attorney".
For a president already facing an intensifying impeachment inquiry, the launching of a criminal investigation into his personal attorney only amplified the fallout stemming from the Ukraine scandal.
Mr. Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and NY mayor, was retained a year ago to help defend the president in the special counsel's investigation. According to the report, White House officials have been "flabbergasted by Giuliani's performance on Trump's behalf" and have resigned themselves to realizing that "they will rarely be consulted beforehand to develop a strategic plan".
Giuliani told the Washington Post he was still representing Trump.
Many in the administration - including in the West Wing and at the State Department - have tried to distance themselves from Giuliani's dealings in Ukraine, eagerly leaking to reporters unflattering stories about the former mayor's clumsy investigative efforts.
With friends like this, Rudy Giuliani may not need prosecutors or Democrats to tear him down.
