Giuliani denies report that he discussed pardon with Trump

Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday appeared to deny aspects of a news report that he has allegedly discussed with President Donald Trump the possibility of being issued a preemptive pardon before Trump leaves office.

“#FakeNews NYT lies again,” Giuliani wrote on Twitter. “Never had the discussion they falsely attribute to an anonymous source. Hard to keep up with all their lies.”

Giuliani’s tweet came shortly after The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that he and Trump had previously discussed the potential pardon as recently as last week. POLITICO has not independently verified the Times report.

Giuliani, who serves as the president’s personal attorney, was reportedly under investigation by federal prosecutors and has drawn scrutiny for his dealings in Ukraine on behalf of Trump’s political interests.

Giuliani has in recent weeks taken charge of the Trump campaign’s legal challenges to the 2020 election results, advancing an array of baseless conspiracy theories and false claims in an effort to overturn the outcome of the White House race.

A spokesperson for Giuliani told the Times that the former New York mayor “cannot comment on any discussions that he has with his client,” while Giuliani’s lawyer said: “He’s not concerned about this investigation, because he didn’t do anything wrong and that’s been our position from Day 1.”

The Times report comes after Trump last week issued a sweeping pardon to former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia as part of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.