Former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani is joining President Trump’s legal team as he fights off Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
Giuliani, who Trump once considered for secretary of state, said he wants to help Trump ‘negotiate’ an end to the probe.
‘I’m doing it because I hope we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country and because I have high regard for the president and for Bob Mueller,’ Giuliani told the Washington Post.
The White House confirmed the hiring of Giuliani, and said that Trump had picked up two more lawyers, the husband-and-wife team of Jane Serene Raskin and Marty Raskin, to join the effort.
‘Rudy is great. He has been my friend for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country,’ Trump is quoted as saying in a statement provided to the White House pool by his attorney Jay Sekulow.
Giuliani was a fierce defender of Trump and frequent companion on the campaign trail. He often spoke at rallies and proclaimed the U.S. was at war with ‘Islamic extremist terrorism.’
Giuliani was a fierce defender of Trump and frequent companion on the campaign trail. He often spoke at rallies and proclaimed the U.S. was at war with ‘Islamic extremist terrorism.’
Rudy Giuliani (left) stands with President-elect Trump back in November 2016. Giuliani was considered for the secretary of state gig, but his client work made it difficult for him to join the Trump administration
President Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow also announced that husband-and-wife legal team Marty Raskin (left) and Jane Serene Raskin (right) would be joining the attorneys working for Trump on the Mueller probe
The two New Yorkers went way back too, as Trump famously appeared in a skit with the then-mayor in 2000, when Giuliani was dressed in drag.
Now, Giuliani could help Trump fend off the Russia probe after the firing of John Dowd, the earlier departure of Marc Kasowitz, and various failed efforts to bring on other litigators.
The Daily Beast reported Giuliani was ‘in talks’ to join Trump’s effort.
Giuliani declined to discus whether the deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein would be fired. ‘I’m not involved in anything about those issues,’ the former DOJ attorney said.
Rosenstein last week told Trump he is not the focus of the Russia probe, Bloomberg reported.
Giuliani said he would spend a ‘great deal of time’ in Washington working with the president on the case, while living in New York. Trump maintains White House lawyer Ty Cobb and outside lawyer Sekulow on the case.
Fellow New Yorkers, Rudy Giuliani (left) and President Trump (right) go way back. So much in fact, that Trump was part of a skit the then- New York City mayor filmed in 2000, when he was dressed up in drag
President Trump (left), then a New York City businessman, played up his womanizing reputation by coming onto Rudy Giuliani (right), who was dressed in drag
Giuliani reportedly had dinner last week at Mar-a-Lago as he finalized his decision.
Giuliani traveled frequently with Trump during the campaign, which would have put him in close contact with other Trump surrogates and aides, including fired security advisor Mike Flynn, and former campaign chair Paul Manafort, who has been indicted on tax and fraud charges by the Mueller team.
The former Manhattan U.S. attorney had been considered a leading pick for Trump’s cabinet, and reportedly had several opportunities.
But his chance to be secretary of state went bust after reports came out that he made paid speeches and did work for Qatar and other governments.
He became known as ‘America’s Mayor’ after the Sept. 11 attacks, but his array of clients at the firm he founded, Giuliani Partners, complicated efforts to join the government in 2017.
Last year, Giuliani represented Iranian-Turkish businessman Reza Zarrab, CNBC reported. According to the report, Special counsel Robert Mueller was interested in whether former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn discussed ways to free Zarrab, a gold trader who was indicted for circumventing U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Flynn is cooperating with the Mueller probe after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI.
Trump has been reaching out for counsel since the FBI raided the home and office of longtime lawyer Michael Cohen.
Cohen is now under criminal investigation, and agents sought documents relating to his negotiations over ‘hush’ agreements with women claiming to have had affairs with Trump, as well as business matters.
In another instance of reaching out for legal advice, Trump heard from a former legal adviser last Friday that Cohen can’t be trusted to remain loyal.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Jay Goldberg, who represented the president decades ago, told him that on a scale of one to 100, with 100 representing an ironclad commitment to protecting Trump, Cohen ‘isn’t even a 1.’
‘Michael will never stand up [for you]’ under the weight of potential prosecution, Goldberg said he warned Trump.
‘You have to be alert. I don’t care what Michael says.’
Goldberg worked for Trump on divorce and real estate matters.
Martin Raskin served as
Mr. Raskin served a judicial clerkship Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, according to his firm’s web site, and also as a special attorney with the the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section assigned to the Miami Strike Force, as well as the Chief of the Criminal Division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Fired FBI Director James Comey in his new book compared President Trump’s request for loyalty to mob informant “Sammy the Bull” Gravano.
Jane Raskin also has experience dealing with mob cases. According to her bio, she was a trial lawyer in Boston with the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section’s Boston Strike Force.