Quite a morning, a former staunch Republican, Joe Scarborough, calls out the Republicans in Congress as functional Putin co-conspirators, and Rudy Giuliani goes on TV – why he continues to do so, is anyone’s guess – and gives one of his worst interviews yet, which is a remarkable feat.
This morning, CNN’s Alisyn Camerota took off the blindfold as she approached the Giuliani pinata, getting him to admit that he doesn’t know whether Trump is telling the truth or not about whether Don Jr. told Trump about the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting. “Nobody can be sure of anything,” is all Rudy could weakly state.
Wrong, Rudy, there are plenty of ways that we as a society become “sure enough” of certain facts that we put people in prison for life (in some states we still execute people). So, there are ways to look at evidence and become sure of what happened.
For example, Rudy said he is inclined to not believe Cohen based in large part upon Don Jr.’s own self-serving statement’s to the Senate. Camerota was ready and returned that serve with a vicious forehand right on the line, asking Rudy if the blocked number that Trump Jr. called while arranging the June 2016 meeting was the same blocked number that Trump himself used.
“I don’t know,” is all Rudy had in reply.
You know what, Rudy? You are one of the few people on Earth who could know what number Don Jr. called (you do know, you just lied because the answer is bad). You could come right out and state that Don Jr. did not call his father, that the blocked number was not Trump Sr.’s, and that would buttress your argument. If you stated that Don Jr. did not call Trump in that moment, it is somewhat easier to believe that Don Jr. never told his father.
But, Rudy gave the entire game away. Of course it was Trump’s number. Of course Rudy knows who Don Jr. called in that moment, unless the information is so damning the team is keeping it from Rudy. So, any reasonable person can assume Don Jr. called his father, or someone worse, such as Putin himself. It is the only explanation for Team Trump keeping that number concealed. The audience knows it, Camerota knows it, and Rudy knows it, because he immediately pivoted away from the disastrous answer, back to safer ground, calling Cohen unreliable.
Camerota had that one lined up from the get-go and let loose:
“You had said, not two months ago, that Michael Cohen was an honest and honorable man,” she pointed out. “Now you’re saying he’s a pathological liar.”
Ouch!
Rudy took the comment personally:
“That’s about as unfair a thing as you can say! How did I know that he was a lawyer taping his client… the guy is unethical, he’s a scumbag, he’s a horrible person!”
Oh, god, where do we even begin? At the time, team Trump denied that Cohen was even acting as Trump’s attorney! Please recall that at the time the story told by Team Trump was that Cohen did this on his own, as a gift, using his own funds, that Trump had no idea, you lying sack of …
Second, in terms of “taping people” being “unethical” – does Rudy really want to go down this road knowing that he represents a man famous for both taping conversations and bluffing about taped conversations with the head of the FBI?
Last, simply being a lawyer “taping” a client is not in and of itself unethical, if that lawyer has reason to believe that the client may attempt to use the lawyer’s advice in a fraudulent way, or lie about what was said. True, most lawyers would note that they are taping the conversation, (most lawyers would not represent a client that they mistrusted so much so as to have to “create” evidence and tape the conversation) but this was no normal lawyer-client relationship, as Rudy himself can attest. It also takes some real brass to call someone a “scumbag” in defense of Trump, a man who has 20 women accusing him of sexual harassment or rape, advocated for a policy that took children out of their parents’ arms, and used the same person to pay off women that his sexually craven-client couldn’t help but “mount” while he had a new wife and child at home.
One person sure appreciated the interview, and its wretched results: Michael Avenatti:
Rudy – America is still waiting for an answer to my question below. BTW, great job on @NewDay. Whatever you do, don’t stop giving interviews. So much winning… #FightClub #BuckleUpButtercup #Basta https://t.co/BBL53n1K50
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 30, 2018
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