Is Giuliani still a “great guy” Trump?
The new member of the legal team of President Trump, referred again to the 'Stormy Daniels' case in a televised interview, although Trump contradicted his last statements. He also assured that he will recommend the president to adhere to the Fifth Amendment during an eventual interrogation with the special prosecutor of the 'Russiagate'. The Fifth Amendment endorses the right of a person not to testify to self-incriminate in an investigation. For Giuliani, Mueller and his team are suggested in favor of former FBI Director James Comey. Although Trump has expressed his willingness to cooperate, he also thinks the investigation has turned into a “witch hunt”.
President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudolph Giuliani once again referred to the case of the porn star 'Stormy Daniels', but clarified that he is not "involved". In an interview on ABC's "This Week," he said he does not know if Trump's personal defender, Michael Cohen, made payments to other women on behalf of the president, in addition to the $ 130,000 he gave Daniels. "I have no knowledge of that," Giuliani replied to the question of the presenter George Stephanopoulos on this subject. "If it were necessary, yes (he would), he makes payments on behalf of the president, he does business for the president, which means he has legal fees, he makes expense reports", he added.
As international media report, the lawyer got muddied over and over and again. For Giuliani, former mayor of New York, the payment to Stormy Daniels was a “nuisance payment" and not an "agreement." "I never thought that $ 130,000 could be a real payment (...) People do not normally go with $ 130,000", he added while explaining that he would have expected a million-dollar sum if something big was to be hidden. But what is under discussion currently is not the quantity, but the origin of the funds. That is, if the payment to Daniels was made or not with money from the Republican campaign, which could mean a violation of the laws. However, the controversy over the case has been heightened by the contradictory versions of Cohen, and of Trump with Giuliani.
The Daniels scandal broke on January 12, when The Wall Street Journal published a report on the romance between the renowned porn star and the president, as well as the payment made by Cohen a month before the 2016 election in which Trump was the winner. First, the lawyer denied the transaction. Then he accepted it, but said it came out of his pocket and not of the funds of the campaign of the Republican or the Trump Organization. The president said back then that he did not know the transaction or the origin of the money.
But this Wednesday in an interview with Fox News, Rudy Giuliani, who a few days ago met with Trump's legal team, contradicted the president and said that the president - then candidate - had reimbursed Cohen. The payment was "perfectly legal," Giuliani explained, noting that it did not come from the Republican campaign. To make it all fuzzier, hours later, Trump admitted that he knew about the payment: "Cohen, a lawyer, received a monthly advance, not from the campaign," Trump said on Twitter, adding that it was "a private contract between two parties, known as non-disclosure agreement". However, Trump dropped a “sweet” slap on Giuliani when he said that he was not quite clear on the case.
As if the above was not enough, in the same conversation with Stephapoulos, Giuliani said that President Trump does not necessarily have to comply with the citation expected from the 'Russiagate' prosecutor, Robert Mueller, to investigate whether the president obstructed justice. He believes that, as other presidents have done, he could invoke the Fifth Amendment. "We do not have to do it, it's the president of the United States, we can maintain the same privileges as other presidents," President Clinton negotiated an agreement in which he did not accept the effects of these summons", said the lawyer, although Trump has said that he would be willing to testify before Mueller or his team.
Given these facts, though, it is not unlikely that the president changes his mind. "I have a client who wants to testify (...) I hope we have a chance to tell him the risk he is taking," Giuliani said. As much as I’d love to see what the President have to say on the Russiagate, he might well end up dodging the bullet.