Donald Trump backtracks as he ADMITS sending Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to investigate his political rivals – despite previous denials
- Trump was asked if it was strange to send his lawyer Rudy Giuliani to the Ukraine
- ‘Not at all,’ Trump said, adding he trusted him more than ‘Comeys of the world’
- In November Trump had said, ‘I didn’t direct (Giuliani)’ during impeachment saga
- Giuliani is accused of applying pressure to Ukraine to investigate the Bidens
President Donald Trump yesterday admitted sending his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to the Ukraine despite staunch denials during the impeachment inquiry.
Trump was asked on Geraldo Rivera’s podcast Thursday, ‘Was it strange to send Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine, your personal lawyer? Are you sorry you did that?’
‘No, not at all,’ the president replied. ‘Here’s my choice: I deal with the Comeys of the world, or I deal with Rudy.’
Trump previously denied that he had asked the former New York Mayor to ‘do anything’ or ‘put heat’ on the Ukraine. ‘No, I didn’t direct him, but he’s a warrior.’ Trump told former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly in November.
President Donald Trump said he wasn’t ‘at all’ sorry about sending his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to the Ukraine (pictured in the Oval Office last month)
Trump explained to Geraldo yesterday that the Russia probe left him with ‘very bad taste’ of the US intelligence community, so he deployed Giuliani.
He added: ‘Other presidents had [laywers]. FDR had a lawyer who was practically, you know, was totally involved with government. Eisenhower had a lawyer. They all had lawyers.’
American diplomats and national security officials testified during the impeachment saga that Rudy Giuliani orchestrated a pressure campaign to get the Ukrainian president to investigate the Bidens
American diplomats and national security officials testified during the impeachment saga that Giuliani orchestrated a pressure campaign to get the Ukrainian president to investigate the Bidens.
Giuliani’s name was also mentioned by Trump in his phone call to President Volodymyr Zelensky which was at the center of the Democrats’ case. Trump reiterated Thursday that this was ‘a perfect call.’
Trump also continued to slam the Justice Department’s treatment of Roger Stone in the interview with Geraldo, further setting up a collision course with Attorney General William Barr.
Barr yesterday said the president’s tweets ‘make it impossible for me to do my job.’
‘What they did to Roger Stone was a disgrace,’ Trump told Rivera.
He said of the prosecutors who resigned in protest: ‘I don’t think they quit the case. … I don’t think they quit for moral reasons. I think they got caught in the act by me.’
‘Now what am I going to do, sit back and let a man go to jail maybe for nine years when murderers aren’t going to jail? You have some of the most serious horrible rapists and everything else. They don’t go to jail for nine years,’ Trump said.
Barr made his extraordinary comments to ABC news amid a furore over Trump’s intervention in the criminal case of Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress about his contacts with WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign, when he was an informal Trump advisor
Democrats have demanded more information about Barr’s intervention in the case of Stone, a longtime confidant of the president who was convicted in November.
Stone was found guilty of obstruction of justice, lying to Congress and witness tampering during the Russia probe.
Barr this week overruled prosecutors who had recommended Stone be sentenced to seven to nine years in prison.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticised Barr on Thursday, calling him one of Trump’s ‘henchmen.’
‘The attorney general has stooped to such levels,’ Mr Pelosi said. ‘What a sad disappointment. The American people deserve better.’
Barr also said, however, that his decision to undo the sentencing recommendation was made before Mr Trump tweeted about it. Despite his criticism of the president, he also said Trump had not asked him to intervene in any cases.