Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Former Mayor Giuliani says he’s joining Trump legal team

- By Robert Costa and Josh Dawsey

The Washington Post

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a combative former prosecutor and longtime ally of President Donald Trump, told The Washington Post on Thursday he has joined the president’s legal team dealing with the ongoing special counsel probe.

“I’m doing it because I hope we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country and because I have high regard for the president and for” special counsel Robert Mueller, Mr. Giuliani said.

Mr. Trump counsel Jay Sekulow said Thursday in a statement that Mr. Giuliani is joining the team along with two former federal prosecutor­s, Jane Serene Raskin and Marty Raskin, a couple who jointly run a Florida-based law firm.

With the addition of Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Trump gains an experience­d litigator and former U.S. attorney. The former mayor also fills the void left by attorney John Dowd, who resigned from the legal team last month.

“Rudy is great,” Mr. Trump said in the statement issued by Mr. Sekulow. “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, who joins a legal team that has struggled to recruit new members, said he has been speaking with Mr. Trump for weeks about joining the group of legal advisers. He said he would work alongside Mr. Trump’s current attorneys, Mr. Sekulow and Ty Cobb, who are focusing on the federal investigat­ion into Russian interferen­ce in the 2016 presidenti­al election. He also said he will soon take a leave from his law firm, Greenberg Traurig.

Mr. Giuliani is a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, which is the office overseeing an investigat­ion of Mr. Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen.

Mr. Giuliani said he formalized his decision in recent days, including over dinner last week at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Trump spoke on Thursday about legal strategy moving forward, along with Mr. Sekulow, whom Mr. Giuliani described as a “good friend.” He added that he and Mr. Cobb spoke on Wednesday.

Mr. Giuliani declined to say whether Mr. Trump has made a final decision on whether to sit for an interview with Mr. Mueller and his investigat­ors. Mr. Trump has been mulling for weeks whether to do so, veering between wanting to meet with Mr. Mueller to moving away from the idea, especially after the home, offices and hotel room of Mr. Cohen were raided this month.

“It’s too early for me to say that,” Mr. Giuliani said of whether an interview is unlikely to happen.

Mr. Giuliani also declined to discuss whether Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has been under fire from conservati­ves and oversees the Russia probe, could be fired by the president in the coming weeks. (This came as several people familiar with the matter said Mr. Rosenstein told Mr. Trump last week that he isn’t a target of any part of Mr. Mueller’s investigat­ion or the probe into his longtime lawyer.)

“I’m not involved in anything about those issues. My advice on Mueller has been this: He should be allowed to do his job. He’s entitled to do his job.”

Mr. Giuliani’s statements on Mr. Mueller came as Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday they want to act on a bill to protect the special counsel — even if Majority Leader Mitch McConnell essentiall­y killed it by saying it won’t make it to the floor.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said Thursday he’s determined to hold a committee vote next week on that bill, but his path to getting a vote by the full Senate may rely on convincing Republican leaders that the measure isn’t aimed at Mr. Trump.

The Daily Beast reported earlier Thursday that Mr. Giuliani was in talks with Mr. Trump about joining the team.

Mr. Giuliani said he would spend a “great deal of time” in Washington working with Mr. Trump, but would continue to live in New York.

Mr. Giuliani was one of Mr. Trump’s earliest and loudest supporters during the presidenti­al campaign.

But in a snub, Mr. Trump denied the former mayor a Cabinet post after assuming office.

Mr. Trump had considered Mr. Giuliani for attorney general and has said in recent weeks he needs a New York-based attorney. Many leading white-collar lawyers, such as Theodore Olson, have declined Mr. Trump’s entreaties.

Mr. Trump is known to be a difficult client who does not listen to his attorneys’ advice, according to lawyers who are familiar with his conduct.

In related news, prosecutor­s with Mr. Mueller’s office on Thursday defended their investigat­ion into former Mr. Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort by saying his long-standing ties to Russian-backed politician­s, financiers and others warranted a probe into whether any served as “back channels to Russia.”

Deputy Solicitor General Michael Dreeben said the focus on Mr. Manafort fell within Mr. Mueller’s authorizat­ion to investigat­e Russian interferen­ce in the 2016 U.S. election, including “any links” or coordinati­on between Trump campaign associates and the Russian government.

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