Trump casts his lawyer Rudy Giuliani a ‘crime fighter’ who ‘looks for corruption wherever he goes’

President Donald Trump cast his under-fire attorney Rudy Giuliani in heroic terms Friday, calling him a ‘crime fighter’ even as his activities in Ukraine feature in the escalating impeachment probe.

Trump spoke at the White House after a week when a key witness, diplomat William Taylor, testified to an impeachment inquiry that the administration held up millions in aide for security aid as leverage to get Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.

‘Rudy is a great gentleman. He’s been a great crime fighter, he looks for corruption wherever he goes,’ Trump said.

He called Giuliani a ‘fine man, he was the greatest mayor in the history of New York, and he’s been one of the greatest crime fighters and corruption fighters.’

As Trump’s personal lawyer Giuliani has spearheaded efforts to investigate Ukraine, while touting unproven theories on television that Hillary Clinton’s emails from 2016 might be residing in that country.

Trump also called Giuliani a ‘good man,’ after raising doubts last week about whether he would continue to employ Giuliani.

Trump praised Giuliani’s crime fighting record as New York mayor. His tenure was identified with a new emphasis on community policing, as well as ‘stop and frisk’ and some high-profile incidents of police misconduct

President Trump made the comments on the South Lawn of the White House

Two Giuliani associates, Les Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested this month and charged with an alleged scheme to violate campaign finance laws to curry favor with politicians. The indictment said a foreign source was behind contributions, including more than $300,000 that Parnas gave to a pro-Trump super PAC and contributions to former Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, who pushed for the removal of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

Both men pleaded not guilty.  

Giuliani dined with the men the day they were arrested at Dulles airport in Virginia with tickets to Europe. The New York Times reported that prosecutors were investigating whether he violated foreign lobbying rules through his Uraine work, including his efforts to force out the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovich.

Text messages have revealed his pursue of information out of Ukraine that might damage the Bidens took him to Spain. He opened up a lucrative consulting business when he left office, with clients in Bahrain and elsewhere. 

In the latest drama for the president’s lawyer, Giuliani butt-dialed a reporter earlier this month, leaving a three-minute voicemail where he’s heard discussing foreign business dealings and his need for cash. 

On Friday, NBC News reporter Rich Schapiro detailed in the first-person the October 16 call, which came at 11:07 p.m. and went to voicemail as the journalist was asleep. 

‘The problem is we need some money,’ Giuliani told a mystery man whose voice is also picked up in the message. ‘We need a few hundred thousand,’ the former New York City mayor and President Trump’s personal lawyer said. 

The voicemail began with Giuliani talking about someone named ‘Charles.’ 

‘You know,’ Giuliani told the man he was meeting with. ‘Charles would have a hard time with a fraud case ’cause he didn’t do any due diligence.’ 

Then, Giuliani said: ‘Let’s get back to business. I gotta get you to Bahrain,’ he told his associate. 

‘Is Robert around?’ Giuliani added at one point. 

His companion noted that Robert is in Turkey. 

That’s when Giuliani said he needed ‘some money.’ 

There’s a pause in the conversation for nine seconds, before Trump’s personal attorney said they needed a ‘few hundred thousand.’