WHO SPEAKS FOR MUELLER? RUDY GIULIANI IS TRYING TO
Ex- NYC mayor trying to color the perception of Russia probe among voters and lawmakers, all while confident that Mueller will never speak up to correct him
NEW YORK — A series of seemingly authoritative assertions in recent weeks about the shape and scope of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference has helped define it in the public eye, generating countless headlines and cable chyrons about the ongoing saga that has shadowed President Donald Trump’s White House.
But none of those pronouncements about Mueller’s probe were made by Mueller.
They were made by Rudy Giuliani, the president’s attorney, who has used a media blitz to frequently set — and later move — the goalposts of the investigation, making public declarations about the probe to color its perception among voters and lawmakers, all while confident that Mueller will never speak up to correct him.
“Our strategy is: When we weren’t talking, we were losing,” Giuliani told The Associated Press on Thursday from Israel. “Normally in a criminal or civil investigation, the audience would not be the public. But in this one, it is.”
Among Giuliani’s declarations in the last month: that Mueller’s probe will end by Sept. 1 so as not to affect the midterm elections; that an interview with Trump will be limited and take place only under certain conditions; that prosecutors have ruled out indicting a sitting president.
On Thursday, he shifted expectations yet again, suggesting that Trump would not sit for an interview with investigators unless his legal team gets a firsthand look at the documents generated by an FBI informant who had contacts with the celebrity businessman’s Republican presidential campaign in 2016. Previously, Giuliani had said a briefing on the information would suffice.
The special counsel has not responded to any of those claims. Indeed, Mueller has shown no interest in combating the White House on cable or in print; seemingly, the most consistent line in a story about the probe is ‘‘ A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment for this article.”
A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment for this article.
Some of Giuliani’s statements have been outlandish, and some have arguably been damaging to the president’s cause. But nearly all have been intended to set the public discourse, whether to defend Trump or discredit those investigating him. Giuliani argued that, as much as the White House was trying to preserve Trump’s presidency by fighting on legal terms, the public relations battleground was just as vital.
The former New York City mayor has repeatedly stated that Mueller won’t criminally charge the president — again, a claim made without rebuttal from the special counsel — and believes that, therefore, the probe will conclude when Mueller delivers a report to the Justice Department, which, in turn, may release it to Congress, whose members could be susceptible to public pressure while debating possible impeachment.
“They have the capacity to report and so do we. We’re reporting in real time as we go,” Giuliani said. “So whose report will the public accept? Who do they believe? We’re looking to win that argument.”
Mueller’s investigation has operated largely in secrecy, with the public getting only glimpses into its operation through witnesses who are questioned or when indictments and guilty pleas are unsealed. There is no evidence that Giuliani’s rhetoric has influenced the special counsel, and Mueller’s silence may be the right approach, according to some experts.
“You never want to wrestle in the mud, and engaging publicly would mean wrestling with Trump and Rudy,” said Tobe Berkovitz, a longtime political media consultant who is now a professor of communications at Boston University. “He shouldn’t respond. There are lawmakers and pundits who will do so on his behalf. And it’s not like he is going to listen to Rudy anyway.”
Giuliani’s outspokenness, when taken in tandem with the president’s powerful Twitter feed, has tried to undercut the credibility of the investigation and muddy the waters, turning the perception of those involved into political actors rather than above- the- fray investigators. He has painted former FBI Director James Comey, a key witness for Mueller, as untrustworthy and has derided the informant as “a spy,” pressuring Republican lawmakers to hold unprecedented briefings on the asset’s classified findings.
The attacks appear to have pushed public opinion on the special counsel. While the majority of Americans believe Trump should cooperate with the probe, recent polling suggests that an increasing number of people have begun to view the investigation as politically motivated.
“We need to drive the story,” Giuliani said. “You have to go on and be willing to take the arrows, especially if you’re going to deliver more arrows.”
“OUR STRATEGY IS: WHEN WE WEREN’T TALKING, WE WERE LOSING. NORMALLY IN A CRIMINAL OR CIVIL INVESTIGATION, THE AUDIENCE WOULD NOT BE THE PUBLIC. BUT IN THIS ONE, IT IS.” RUDY GIULIANI