If you had to pick just one jester in the court of Donald Trump, the title would have to fall to Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani has no problem contradicting himself, outing his client — the most famous incident being admitting to Fox News that Trump paid off Stormy Daniels — and just all around buffoonery as somehow he rides into combat each and every single week on the Sunday shows and makes a continuing hash out of the facts of life in Trump’s Washington. Gabriel Sherman, Vanity Fair:
The shutdown and related chaos has pushed Donald Trump’s approval rating to new lows, with even Rasmussen, his polling happy place, pegging him at 43 percent. But the White House believes this is only the beginning of his troubles. In recent days, according to a source briefed on the conversation, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani has told people privately that he expects Robert Mueller to deliver the first installment of his report, dealing with obstruction of justice, “within the month.” “Rudy thinks it will be soon,” said a person who’s spoken with Giuliani. “It’s only a matter of time.”
Giuliani, of course, has been wrong before about Mueller’s timing. In May, Giuliani claimed that the special counsel could be wrapped up by September 1. (Giuliani’s prior claim was seen as a strategy to pressure Mueller into completing his report before the 2018 midterms.) This time, however, Giuliani’s forecast about Mueller’s next move seems to be driven by his fears that the report will be “horrific” for Trump. According to a source, Giuliani recently told a close associate that he’s “very worried about the report.” The mounting pressure has also strained Giuliani’s relationship with Trump. “Rudy hates the job,” a Republican briefed on Giuliani’s thinking told me. “Trump is very hard to deal with.” (Giuliani didn’t return a call seeking comment.)
Sunday, Rudy was on State of the Union, and it was an epic episode. Giuliani accused the media of “hysteria” in its coverage of Trump. His characterization of Michael Cohen’s Trump Tower dealings were priceless.
“He wrote a nonbinding letter of intent and sent it to a general post office.[In Russia.] He had a couple of discussions — Michael Cohen did, not the president. It was the last thing on his [Trump’s] mind because he was running for president. We’re talking about 2016. You’re not thinking about some proposal that, at best, it’s three years down the line.”
Rudy’s bottom line on the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations is that they were nothing more than a a vague inquiry. This is vintage b.s. and vintage Giuliani.
