People close to Donald Trump have reportedly grown exasperated with his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, over his media appearances which they fear are making prosecutors more angrier with the President.
Giuliani has been making frequent media appearances on Trump’s behalf as more details emerge about the investigations involving the President.
But the former New York Mayor’s appearances have often led to more confusion and chaos, increasing concern among Trump associates, The New York Times is reporting.
Giuliani on Monday walked back comments he made about discussions Trump had with his former personal attorney about a real estate project in Moscow during the presidential election campaign.
Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in 2017 by saying he had abandoned the Trump Tower project in January 2016 even though prosecutors say he actually pursued it into June.
People close to Donald Trump have reportedly grown exasperated with his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani (above), over his media appearances which they fear are making prosecutors more angrier with the President
Giuliani has been making frequent media appearances on Trump’s behalf as more details emerge about the investigations involving the President
Giuliani suggested in a TV interview Sunday that Trump remembers conversations with Cohen about the project ‘up to as far as October, November,’ or right up until the election.
That extends the timeline for the Russian business deal well beyond what the president has publicly acknowledged.
Giuliani said Monday in a three-sentence statement that his comments ‘did not represent the actual timing or circumstances of any discussions.’
He said his comments were ‘hypothetical’ and ‘not based on conversations’ he had with the president.
Giuliani on Monday walked back comments he made about discussions Trump had with his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen (above), about a real estate project in Moscow during the presidential election campaign
He concluded by saying the Moscow project ‘was in the earliest stage and did not advance beyond a free non-binding letter of intent.’
The changing timeline is relevant in light of the Special Counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the election and ties to the Trump campaign.
For Trump, Giuliani plays the role more of spokesman than attorney, unleashing public attacks on investigators while throwing out wild accusations designed to muddle the narrative of the probe.
But at times, he has gone too far or has flat-out misspoken, leading to a series of clarifications while triggering more legal questions for his client.
This was the second time within the past week that Giuliani has walked back comments from the previous day.
Giuliani went on Sunday morning political talk shows to slam a bombshell Buzzfeed report that claimed Trump ordered Cohen to lie to Congress about the extent of his involvement in the Moscow Trump Tower deal.
The former New York City mayor said he was ‘100 percent’ confident that Trump never asked Cohen to lie.
‘Are you 100 percent confident that the president never once asked Michael Cohen to do anything but tell the truth to Congress?,’ NBC’s Chuck Todd asked Giuliani during his appearance on ‘Meet the Press.’
‘100 percent certain of that,’ Giuliani replied.
‘To answer your question, categorically, I can tell you his counsel to Michael Cohen throughout that entire period was, “Tell the truth”.
‘We thought he was telling the truth. I still believe he may have been telling the truth when he testified before Congress.
‘But in any event, his lawyers thought that, our lawyers thought that and the president thought that at the time,’ he added.
He made the same claim on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’
During an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Giuliani conceded conversations between Trump and Cohen about a Trump Tower Moscow happened through the 2016 election, which is a longer time period that originally claimed by the Trump team
CNN’s Jake Tapper challenged Giuliani about Trump discussing Cohen’s testimony with him. It’s ‘perfectly normal,’ Giuliani said in response. ‘So what if he talked to him,’ he added
‘As far as I know, President Trump did not have discussions with him. Certainly no discussions with him in which he told him or counseled him to lie. If he had any discussions with him, they’d be about the version of the events that Michael Cohen gave them which they all believe was true,’ he told CNN.
CNN’s Jake Tapper challenged Giuliani about Trump discussing Cohen’s testimony with him.
It’s ‘perfectly normal,’ Giuliani said in response.
‘So what if he talked to him,’ he added.
But Giuliani also conceded conversations between Trump and Cohen about a Trump Tower Moscow happened through the 2016 election, which is a longer time period that originally claimed by the Trump team.
‘It’s our understanding that it, that they went on throughout 2016, not a lot of them, but there were conversations, can’t be sure of the exact date, but the president can remember having conversations with him about it,’ he said on ‘Meet the Press.’
‘Throughout 2016,’ Todd clarified.
‘Yeah. Probably up to, could be up to as far as October, November. Our answers cover until the election,’ Giuliani responded.
On Thursday, he issued a statement aimed at clarifying a TV interview from the night before in which he appeared to leave open the possibility of collusion between Russia and members of Trump’s presidential campaign.
In the statement, he said ‘there was no collusion by President Trump in any way, shape or form’ and that he had ‘no knowledge of any collusion by any of the thousands of people who worked on the campaign.’
That was an apparent reversal from Wednesday’s television appearance in which he said, ‘I never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between people in the campaign.’
He had previously denied any collusion.