President Donald Trump put Rudy Giuliani at arm’s length in a recent interview with Bill O’Reilly.
The commander in chief denied ever sending his personal lawyer on a mission to Ukraine, saying he “didn’t direct him” to seek investigations of the Bidens, according to the Washington Examiner. “No, I didn’t direct him but he’s a warrior, Rudy’s a warrior,” Trump said. “Rudy went, he possibly saw something.”
For his part, Giuliani has been largely out of the public eye since two of his Ukrainian associates came under FBI investigation.
Trump distances himself from Giuliani
House Democrats are impeaching Trump for allegedly holding up military aid to Ukraine in exchange for the country re-opening its investigations of the Bidens and supposed election interference in 2016. Ever since the Ukraine controversy emerged, Giuliani has been seen as central to the president’s efforts to fight back.
In his now-infamous July phone call with Ukraine’s president, Trump urged his European counterpart to get in touch with Giuliani about the investigations. But in an interview with O’Reilly this week, Trump downplayed his relationship with the former mayor of New York.
“Well, you have to ask that to Rudy,” Trump said in response to a question from O’Reilly on what Giuliani is doing in Ukraine. “I don’t even know. I know he was going to go to Ukraine, and I think he canceled a trip, but you know Rudy has other clients other than me. He’s done a lot of work in Ukraine over the years.”
Witnesses in the Dems’ impeachment inquiry have characterized Giuliani as leading a “shadow diplomacy” operation to pressure Ukraine at Trump’s behest. Former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who was ousted this year, accused Giuliani of directing a smear operation against her because she wasn’t loyal enough to Trump.
For his part, Giuliani said this month that he sought the investigations to protect Trump from “false charges.” according to NBC News.
Impeachment peaks as holidays approach
The Democrats have hailed their impeachment inquiry as having produced numerous “bombshells” proving that President Trump sought a quid pro quo with Ukraine. But as Democrats plan to move on to drawing up impeachment articles in Rep. Jerry Nadler’s (D-NY) Judiciary committee after the Thanksgiving break, there is a feeling that the spectacle did not have a significant impact on public opinion.
Democrats will likely point to Trump’s distancing as a sign that he’s worried — but the impeachment seems to have already peaked. Regardless of what Trump told Giuliani to do, it likely makes little difference as Republicans in the Senate are expected to acquit Trump once they take over the proceeding.
The trial could happen as soon as January by some estimates. While Democrats say that Trump abused his power, Republicans counter that the military aid that was withheld was eventually released, that the investigations Trump wanted to be opened were never launched, that Trump was really trying to root out corruption in Ukraine, and that authority to set foreign policy rests with Trump anyway — not his disgruntled ex-subordinates complaining of a “shadow” effort.
Once a widely respected public official, Giuliani is now a controversial figure because of his relationship with Trump. Moreover, his often erratic media appearances have been criticized as harming Trump’s defense.
But the outspoken New Yorker hasn’t been seen in the media much lately. Two men who he said were part of his efforts to pressure Ukraine, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were charged last month with campaign finance violations, according to NBC News.
Otherwise, the Trump lawyer has largely been keeping his name out of the headlines recently. And that may just be a good thing.
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