前副总统乔·拜登将参议员林赛·格雷厄姆的下台比作“拙劣的模仿”教父,“前纽约市长鲁迪·朱利安尼在周六的电视采访中似乎暗示他掌握了关于他的客户唐纳德·特朗普总统的犯罪信息。当天晚些时候,他澄清了自己的评论。
在福克斯新闻节目中美国新闻编辑室,主持人埃德·亨利问朱利安尼他与总统关系的状况。
“在过去的一两周里,你和特朗普总统谈过了吗?你见过他吗?你还是他的律师吗?”亨利问道。
“我不和我的委托人讨论我的谈话,”朱利安尼回答,在主持人面前交谈。“你可以假设我很早就经常和他说话,和他有非常非常好的关系,所有这些评论——完全是侮辱——我是说,我看到过他写的东西好像要把我扔到公共汽车下面。”
“对,”亨利肯定道。
朱利安尼补充道:“当他们这么说时,我会说,‘他没有,但我有保险。’。
亨利发出不舒服的笑声时,朱利安尼继续说道:“我们是非常好的朋友。他知道我所做的是为他辩护,而不是挖掘拜登的丑闻,”他说。他指的是目前正在进行的联邦调查,该调查已导致朱利安尼的两名前合伙人,列夫·帕纳斯和伊戈尔·弗鲁曼,被控竞选财务欺诈。
接着,朱利安尼坚持谈话的有组织犯罪主题,将话题转回到拜登和他计划对奥巴马白宫官员提出的新指控。
“事实上,他们最终会证明,这是一个高层民主党人(包括白宫的一些人)参与的陷害他的阴谋。”
露面后不久,朱利安尼在推特上发布了他发给格雷厄姆的一封信的副本,请求这位参议员帮助他为乌克兰国民获得签证,他声称这些人被拒绝是因为多年来拒绝向“许多有证据证明民主党、大使馆和拜登腐败的人”发放旅行证件的政策
使周六流传的东欧错误行为指控更加复杂的是,时间据报告的前一天,乌克兰国家能源公用事业公司纳夫托加兹的首席执行官安德烈·科博尔耶夫在一次独家采访中证实,他准备在联邦对该律师在乌克兰的“商业交易”的调查中作证。
如同美联社据10月份报道,在弹劾丑闻之前,一些人“吹捧朱利安尼和特朗普的关系,同时试图在乌克兰大型国有天然气公司的高层设置新的管理层。据两位知情人士透露,他们的计划是将利润丰厚的合同转给特朗普盟友控制的公司。”
周六下午,多家媒体报道了朱利安尼的保险评论后,这名律师再次登陆推特。这一次发布了“真相警报”,称他的参考暗示了他掌握的关于拜登一家的犯罪信息。朱利安尼没有解释如果特朗普像他之前断言的评论员警告的那样把他扔进众所周知的公共汽车,这样的信息将如何被证明是有用的。
2019年7月29日,在DC华盛顿白宫玫瑰园举行的仪式上,前纽约市长鲁迪·朱利安尼出席了人力资源1327的签字仪式,该法案永久授权美国总统唐纳德·特朗普设立9月11日受害者赔偿基金。
RUDY GIULIANI REFERENCES 'INSURANCE' AGAINST TRUMP IN FOX NEWS INTERVIEW
Moments after comparing former Vice President Joe Biden's takedown of Senator Lindsey Graham a "poor imitation of The Godfather," former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani seemed to imply he possessed incriminating information on his client, President Donald Trump, during a televised interview Saturday. Later in the day, he clarified his comment.
On the Fox News show America's Newsroom, host Ed Henry asked Giuliani about the status of his relationship with the president.
"Have you talked to President Trump in the last week or two? Have you met with him? Are you still his counsel?" Henry asked.
"I do not discuss my conversations with my client," Giuliani replied, talking over the host. "You can assume that I talk with him early and often and have a very, very good relationship with him, and all these comments—which are totally insulting—I mean, I've seen things written like he's gonna throw me under the bus."
"Right," Henry affirmed.
"When they say that, I say, 'He isn't, but I have insurance,'" Giuliani added.
As Henry let out an uncomfortable laugh, Giuliani resumed. "We are very good friends. He knows what I did was to defend him, not to dig up dirt on Biden," he said, referring to an ongoing federal investigation that has so far led to the indictment of two of Giuliani's former associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, on charges of campaign finance fraud.
Sticking to the conversation's organized crime theme, Giuliani then pivoted the conversation back to Biden and new accusations he planned to raise against Obama White House officials.
"In fact, they're ultimately going to prove that this was a conspiracy to frame him in which high-level Democrats participated, including some people in the White House."
Shortly after the appearance, Giuliani tweeted a copy of the letter he sent to Graham, asking for the senator's help in securing visas for Ukrainian nationals whom he claimed were being refused in keeping with a years-long policy of denying travel credentials "to many who possessed evidence of Democrat, embassy, and Biden corruption."
Compounding the crisscrossing allegations of wrong doing in Eastern Europe circulating on Saturday, TIME reported the day before that Andriy Kobolyev, the CEO of Naftogaz, Ukraine's state energy utility, confirmed in an exclusive interview that he was prepared to testify in a federal investigation into the attorney's "business dealings" in Ukraine.
As The Associated Press reported in October, prior to the impeachment scandal, individuals "touted connections to Giuliani and Trump while trying to install new management at the top of Ukraine's massive state gas company. Their plan was to then steer lucrative contracts to companies controlled by Trump allies, according to two people with knowledge of their plans."
After multiple outlets reported on Giuliani's insurance comment Saturday afternoon, the attorney took to Twitter once again. This time issuing a "truth alert," saying that his reference alluded to incriminating information he possessed about the Bidens. Giuliani did not explain how such information would prove useful should Trump throw him under the proverbial bus, as he earlier asserted commentators had warned.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani attends the signing of HR 1327, an act to permanently authorize the September 11th victim compensation fund by US President Donald Trump during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, July 29, 2019.
This article has been updated to include Rudy Giuliani's tweet elaborating on his earlier insurance claim.