Rudy Giuliani is working for Trump pro bono, and once again he’s displayed that he’s being amply compensated. The New York Times just broke the story that Michael Cohen secretly recorded a conversation with Trump discussing payments made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and Giuliani says that’s actually swell.
Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, confirmed in a telephone conversation on Friday that Mr. Trump had discussed the payments with Mr. Cohen on the tape but said the payment was ultimately never made. He said the recording was less than two minutes and demonstrated that the president had done nothing wrong.
“Nothing in that conversation suggests that he had any knowledge of it in advance,” Mr. Giuliani said, adding that Mr. Trump had directed Mr. Cohen that if he were to make a payment related to the woman, write a check, rather than sending cash, so it could be properly documented.
“In the big scheme of things, it’s powerful exculpatory evidence,” Mr. Giuliani said.
Rudy’s spun so much confectionery fluff on Fox News that he apparently has lost track of how ridiculous he sounds in the larger infosphere — or maybe this really is his analysis of the situation. If so, he’s alone. Maybe he didn’t read what Axios had to say back in April, right after the raid:
- “The guys that know Trump best are the most worried. People are very, very worried. Because it’s Michael [effing] Cohen. Who knows what he’s done?
- “People at the Trump Organization don’t even really know everything he does. It’s all side deals and off-the-books stuff. Trump doesn’t even fully know; he knows some but not everything.”
- “Cohen thinks he’s Ray Donovan [the Showtime series starring a fixer for Hollywood’s elite]. Did you see the photos of him sitting outside on the street with his buddies smoking cigars? Makes it look like a Brooklyn social club.”
- “I’ll tell you who’s worried. The principal.”
If you can keep your head when all others around you are losing theirs it usually means that you don’t know what the hell is going on. Rudy clearly does not. Look to him to continue to provide comic relief as the Michael Cohen saga develops to its inevitable climax.
