Donald Trump ‘s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani , spoke to CNN on Tuesday for a telephone interview and claimed that the president continues to support his efforts to dig up dirt on Democrats in Ukraine.
“We’re on the same page,” Giuliani said of Trump, although he declined to say whether his recent Ukraine trip was under the direction of the president.
Speaking of his Ukraine trip earlier this month, Giuliani claims to have discovered evidence of a conspiracy to prevent him and Trump’s efforts to uncover corruption in the country — in particular, corruption involving Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. According to the former New York City mayor, he and Trump are “on offense.”
“Just in case you think we’re on defense, we’re not,” Giuliani said.
Per Newsweek , Giuliani addressed his alleged discovery in a Sunday tweet, which contained a link to a video by One America News Network that covers the suspected Democratic efforts to impeach Trump.
“After hundreds of hours & months of research, I have garnered witnesses & documents which reveal the truth behind this impeachment, which includes NO wrongdoing by @realDonaldTrump,” Giuliani tweeted, suggesting that the purported pieces of evidence “only touch the surface.”
At a roundtable meeting on Monday, Trump was asked about his knowledge of Giuliani’s recent trip to Ukraine, to which he claimed to have limited knowledge. The president continued to express his belief that his lawyer “knows what he’s doing.”
“He’s a great person who loves our country. And he does this out of love, believe me. He does it out of love.”
“He sees what goes on,” Trump continued, claiming that Giuliani sees “all of the [hoaxes]” surrounding impeachment and accusations of Russian collusion aimed at the president and his campaign.
Mike Pence Chief of Staff Marc Short tells Hallie Jackson that Rudy Giuliani “is representing the president well as his personal attorney … he is not a part of this administration.”
Giuliani said last night that he played a leading role in ousting the US ambassador to Ukraine! pic.twitter.com/iJtTvJVPFa
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 17, 2019
At the center of the impeachment probe into Trump is his alleged pressure campaign on Ukraine, which was reportedly spearheaded with the help of Giuliani . As he is accused of leveraging foreign aid against the country to get dirt on Biden and his son Hunter, the president and his allies have continued to suggest the withholding of military assistance was conducted for the purpose of rooting out corruption.
U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland’s testimony shed doubt on such claims, CNN reported. Sondland said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was only to announce the investigations — not actually conduct them. Not only does this undercut the claims of Trump’s defenders, who suggest securing investigations into corruption was the end-goal — it also suggests that the public announcement might have been intended to gain political benefit for the president.
