Giuliani’s Defense of Trump Called ‘Disgraceful’ and ‘Stupid’

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Whenever Rudy Giuliani goes on TV he opens his mouth and sticks his foot in it. But he is never deterred, and he just keeps on going no matter how ridiculous he appears or how much he is ridiculed. His appearances on TV over the weekend are cases in point, as they were called both disgraceful and stupid.

Not only that, but Giuliani’s public offensive against special counsel Robert Mueller and his Russia investigation is clearly a bad legal strategy. He and his boss, however, believe that his TV interviews still could influence public opinion, according to the New York Daily News. Despite this, many people think what Giuliani is doing and saying on television could be harmful to himself and the president.

“His comments have been disgraceful,” said Sol Wisenberg, who was deputy independent counsel under Kenneth Starr during the Monica Lewinsky investigation. “He’s a lawyer and an officer of the court.”

Giuliani took his offensive to new levels last week when he told Fox News that if the special counsel’s investigation is not completed by September, there would be a “very, very serious violation of Justice Department rules.” Of course, he’s wrong, because there is no such rule.

“There is no rule that says Robert Mueller must end his investigation by September, as President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani claims.”

When Giuliani joined Jay Sekulow, another of the President’s lawyers, in guest-hosting conservative commentator Sean Hannity’s syndicated radio show over the weekend Giuliani attacked Mueller, saying his investigation is “illegitimate,” a “witch hunt” and a “hoax.” And again, everyone knows these are lies because with dozens of indictments and several guilty pleas, the Mueller probe is anything but a hoax.

Giuliani and Sekulow have been negotiating with Mueller for months about a possible interview with the President to determine whether he attempted to obstruct justice. While Trump publicly claims he wants to clear his name, his attorneys have advised against an interview.

Mueller himself has never made a public comment on any subject since being appointed in May of 2017.

“Mueller is a professional and he’s not going to be taking to cable news to make his case,” Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist who served as a spokesman for Mitt Romney. “The Trump team realizes that this is more of a public relations battle for the President than an actual legal defense.”

Not only that, but the stories Giuliani tells on TV keep on changing over time, so nobody really knows what the president’s position is, let alone what the actual truth is.

For example, Giuliani said on Sunday that Trump didn’t pressure fired FBI Director James Comey to “go easy” on former national security adviser Michael Flynn during a private meeting in the White House.

“The President says that he never told Comey that he should go easy on Flynn,” Giuliani told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “Comey says he did. He put it in his memo.”

Last month, Giuliani told ABC’s “This Week” that Trump did ask Comey take mercy on Flynn.

“The reality is, as a prosecutor, I was told that many times, ‘can you give the man a break?’ either by his lawyers, by his relatives, by his friends,” Giuliani told George Stephanopoulos. “You take that into consideration. But you know that doesn’t determine not going forward with it.”

Despite the video evidence of what he said, yesterday Giuliani claimed that he didn’t contradict himself.

“I never told ABC that, that’s crazy,” Giuliani blustered, obviously upset. “What I said was, that is what Comey is saying Trump said. I have always said, the President denies it. Look, it would be easier for me if the President did say that.”

“That is what he will testify to if they ask that question,” he continued. “But they already know that. So why are they asking us for him to repeat what they already know under oath?”

Giuliani’s changing positions were mocked this morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“What are we to make of that?” co-host Joe Scarborough laughed. “Is Rudy Giuliani making it up as he goes along? Is he purposely lying? Does he have early onset of dementia? How does he go from yesterday saying he never asked that question to us, of course, having a tape where clearly a couple weeks ago he said that’s precisely what the president said?”

“You can say this is the death of truth. I just think this is just the renaissance of just stupid — out-and-out stupid. Seriously, a third-grader — and I’ve had four third-graders — a third-grader would be able to keep his or her story more consistent than what Rudy Giuliani is doing on the Sunday shows every morning,” he added.

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Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.