Trump legal team gets Rudy Giuliani
Ex-New York mayor enters Russia probe
WASHINGTON: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump since the early days of his campaign, is joining the team of lawyers representing the president in the special counsel’s Russia investigation.
With the addition of Mr Giuliani, Mr Trump gains a former US attorney, a past presidential candidate and a TV-savvy defender at a time when the White House is looking for ways to bring the president’s involvement with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation to a close.
The president has been weighing whether to sit for questioning by Mr Mueller’s team, and his legal team has repeatedly met with investigators to define the scope of the questions he would face. Mr Giuliani will enter those negotiations, filling the void left by attorney John Dowd, who resigned last month.
It’s a precarious time for Mr Trump. His legal team has been told by Mr Mueller that the president is not a target of the investigation, suggesting he’s not in imminent criminal jeopardy. But he is currently a subject of the probe — a designation that could change at any time.
Mr Trump’s personal attorney Jay Sekulow said that Mr Giuliani will be focusing on the Mueller investigation — not the legal matters raised by the ongoing investigation into Trump attorney Michael Cohen. That probe is being led by the US attorney in Manhattan, an office that Mr Giuliani headed in the mid- to late 1980s.
Mr Cohen’s office, home and hotel room were raided last week by the FBI, who are investigating the lawyer’s business dealings, including suspected bank fraud. They also sought records related to payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who both claim to have had sexual encounters with Mr Trump several years ago. The White House has denied the claims.
The raids enraged Mr Trump, prompting him to publicly weigh whether to fire Mr Mueller or Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein. He also intensified his public attacks on the Mueller investigation, calling it “an attack on our country”.
In a statement announcing Mr Giuliani’s hire, Mr Trump expressed his wish that the investigation wrap up soon and praised Mr Giuliani, a fellow New Yorker, confidante and Mar-a-Lago regular.
“Rudy is great,” Mr Trump said. “He has been my friend for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country.”
Mr Giuliani will be joining Mr Sekulow on Trump’s personal legal team but will be working closely with White House lawyer Ty Cobb, who has also been handling the administration’s cooperation with the Mueller investigation.
“It is an honour to be a part of such an important legal team, and I look forward to not only working with the president but with Jay, Ty and their colleagues,” Mr Giuliani said in a statement.
In addition to Mr Giuliani, two other former federal prosecutors — Jane Serene Raskin and Marty Raskin — will be joining Mr Trump’s legal team. The two, who are married and run a law firm together, are based in Florida but handle cases across the United States. Both have extensive experience prosecuting organised crime and representing defendants in complex white-collar and fraud investigations.
Mr Giuliani, who was New York mayor during the Sept 11 attacks, has known Mr Trump for decades and his style can at times mirror that of the president.