Rudy Giuliani Is Going to War with the State Department Over the Ukraine-Trump Call
Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's personal lawyer, is one of the key figures in the Ukraine scandal that kicked off the impeachment inquiry. And he seems to be facing off with the State Department what may turn into a messy finger-pointing showdown.
On Thursday morning, Giuliani reportedly had multiple phone calls with CNN from a room at Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. As far as the actual content of the whistleblower complaint that was made public this morning, he said that he has "no knowledge of any of that crap." In the memo of the July phone call between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Giuliani is mentioned specifically by both presidents, notably in reference to investigating the business connections of former president Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.
Giuliani maintains that he reached out to Ukrainian officials on behalf of the State Department—a claim that the State Department has denied. In a statement, a spokesman said,"Mr. Giuliani is a private citizen and acts in a personal capacity as a lawyer for President Trump. He does not speak on behalf of the U.S. Government." But Giuliani told CNN that he has a "nice little trail" of text messages between him and Kurt Volker, the top U.S. diplomat with Ukraine, that he says backs up his own version of events.
He read one of these messages over the phone to CNN: "Mr Mayor—really enjoyed breakfast this morning. As discussed, connecting you here with Andrey Yermak, who is very close to President Zelensky. I suggest we schedule a call together on Monday—maybe 10am or 11am Washington time? Kurt."
Giuliani eventually met Yermak in person in Madrid on August 1, a meeting that the whistleblower complaint characterizes as a "direct follow up" to Trump's phone call with Zelensky. Giuliani claims that he had no indication he was following up on a call and that he reported everything he discussed back to the State Department. He told CNN, "I don't think they'd thank me if I was interfering in foreign relations. And I don't think they'd call me and put me together with Yermak, which they indisputably did, even admitted it, if they weren't happy with what I did. But I can't imagine why they'd be unhappy. I told them everything that I did. There's nothing I did that they don't know."
He was less measured in a phone call to Elaina Plott at The Atlantic. Reportedly sounding out of breath, Giuliani nearly shouted into the phone, "It is impossible that the whistleblower is a hero and I’m not. And I will be the hero! These morons—when this is over, I will be the hero!" He added, "I’m not acting as a lawyer. I’m acting as someone who has devoted most of his life to straightening out government. Anything I did should be praised."
He went on to talk about the "Deep State" and the Clintons, before adding that he couldn't wait to see the State Department "sink themselves." Unfortunately for Giuliani, Trump doesn't have the best track record of engaging in behavior that keeps his lawyers out of prison.
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Originally Appeared on GQ
