Rudy Giuliani dismissed accusations that he was at the center of the Ukraine phone call controversy and defended himself as he slammed the anonymous whistleblower who filed a complaint against President Trump.
The president’s personal lawyer spoke on “The Ingraham Angle” Thursday about criticism leveled against him and also addressed a report that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was “unhappy” with him, telling Fox News host Laura Ingraham that he was, in fact, a “legitimate whistleblower” for uncovering corruption.
(Video: Fox News)
Giuliani came to his own defense following a Wall Street Journal report claiming he was a central figure in Trump’s request for Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, explaining that he was asked by the State Department to be involved.
He noted that State Department officials and Kurt Volker, the U.S. special representative to Ukraine, directed him to meet with officials of Ukraine, and he shared text messages with Ingraham showing what transpired and when.
“He should step forward and explain what he did,” Giuiani said of Volker. “The whistleblower falsely alleges that I was operating on my own. Well, I wasn’t operating on my own.”
“I went to meet Mr. Zelensky’s aide at the request of the State Department,” Giuliani explained, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“They basically knew everything I was doing,” Giuliani said, referring to Volker and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland.
He also blasted the whistleblower who claimed in his complaint that the State Department tried to “contain the damage” done to national security because of Giuliani’s actions.
“This guy doesn’t know what happened. He gets the prosecutors confused, he falsely asserted that I talked to two people my records demonstrate I didn’t talk to,” the former New York City mayor said.
“As a lawyer though, I think it’s confusing. I just want to understand it, it’s confusing to people,” Ingraham said, trying to clarify his remarks.
“Were you acting as the president’s personal representative interfacing with State? Or were you working as kind of a pseudo-government emissary working to ferret out corruption in the Ukraine? Were they dual roles? I think that gets confusing,” she questioned.
“Let me tell you the facts,” Giuliani responded.
“They asked me if I would take a call from [Ukraine presidential aide Andriy] Yermak and if I would meet with him and I did. And I reported it back to them and the conversation was completely normal and there was no bribery, there was no extortion. Nothing like what Biden did. I didn’t do that and the president didn’t do that,” he explained. “So why are we talking about us and not Biden? Because the media in this city is corrupt. That’s why. There is not the same standard. I did this in the open. I did it with notes and with texts.”
Ingraham asked him about a claim from New York Times White House reporter Maggie Haberman who alleged that Pompeo was not pleased with Giuliani’s role in the Ukraine controversy.
“Is that true? I know both of you. I haven’t heard about this except from Maggie Haberman,” the Fox News host said.
The finger-pointing among administration officials has begun in earnest. Some blaming the WH CoS, others blaming Pompeo, Pompeo angry with Giuliani https://t.co/pu4OghhYEu
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 26, 2019
“I actually think they should all congratulate me, because if it weren’t for me nobody would have uncovered and faced massive corruption by the Vice President of the United States,” Giuliani replied.
“In fact, I’m a legitimate whistleblower. I have uncovered corruption that this Washington swamp has been covering up, effectively, for years. And this State Department, you know, asked me to do this. So Mike, if you’re unhappy with me, I’m sorry, but I accomplished my mission,” he added, addressing Pompeo.
“I have no idea if he is unhappy with me or not. I frankly don’t care. I’m the president’s lawyer,” Giuliani continued. “The president is clear on this charge completely and the reality is that Joe Biden did everything that these stupid fools accuse the president of doing, which he didn’t do, and now they are doubling down on a whistleblower complaint that is falling apart.”
“He’s not even a whistleblower,” he added. “A hearsay witness is not a witness under the law. The Inspector General decided the hearsay witness was credible. How could he possibly decide that unless he had some kind of severe bias?”
Giuliani noted the “16 areas” that the whistleblower either “made a false statement or lied” in his complaint, pointing out that the Inspector General could have investigated these before pronouncing credibility.
“But you begin with the fact that you cannot say a hearsay witness is credible because it isn’t about his credibility. It’s about the underlying credibility of the people who were speaking to him which is why for a thousand years it hasn’t been allowed into evidence,” he said.
Ingraham interjected, saying she found some of the whistleblower’s report “preposterous.”
“This whole complaint, as far as all the phony Democrats are concerned, is all about Biden, right?” Giuliani asked.
“There are 197 lines in this report, only four relate to Biden. Biden was an afterthought,” he said. “The president was seeking an investigation of how in fact, ironically, the Democrats did exactly what they accused him of and paid for it in the Ukraine, which will be proven. And then, as an afterthought, he mentioned Biden.”
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Frieda@bizpacreview.com
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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