Trump defends personal attorney
As Giuliani said to face probe, his boss rails at ‘deep state’
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether former New York City mayor Giuliani broke lobbying laws.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump defended his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani on Saturday amid reports that federal prosecutors are investigating whether the former New York City mayor broke lobbying laws in his efforts to oust the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
“So now they are after the legendary ‘crime buster' and greatest Mayor in the history of NYC, Rudy Giuliani,” Trump tweeted. “He may seem a little rough around the edges sometimes, but he is also a great guy and wonderful lawyer.”
In defending Giuliani, Trump revived one of his recurring conspiracy theories that a “deep state” of entrenched bureaucrats and law enforcement officers are continuing to undermine him and his associates.
“Such a one sided Witch Hunt going on in USA. Deep State. Shameful!” he said.
His vocal defense of the embattled attorney comes a day after he seemed to put distance between himself and the former mayor when asked if Giuliani still worked for him.
“I don't know. I haven't spoken to Rudy . ... He has been my attorney,” the president said.
Following those remarks, Giuliani told The Washington Post that he was still Trump's lawyer.
The president's tweet follows a report in The New York Times that federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating Giuliani's efforts to have Yovanovitch recalled in a broader effort to pressure Ukraine into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.
Two of Giuliani's associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested last week at Dulles International Airport on charges of campaign finance violations.
An indictment filed in the case alleges that the men, who were raising campaign funds for a U.S. congressman, asked him for help in removing Yovanovitch, at least partly at the request of Ukrainian government officials.
Giuliani has admitted to trying to oust Yovanovitch but denies violating foreign lobbying disclosure laws because he was acting on behalf of the president, not a former Ukrainian prosecutor whom he has worked with who opposed Yovanovitch, he told the Times.
Yovanovitch testified before House lawmakers Friday.
Yovanovitch told lawmakers investigating Trump's dealings with Ukraine that there was a “concerted campaign” against her based on “unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.”
The diplomat was recalled from Kyiv as Giuliani — who has no official role in the U.S. government — pressed Ukrainian officials to investigate baseless corruption allegations against the Bidens.
Yovanovitch testified behind closed doors Friday for more than nine hours as part of the House Democrats' impeachment investigation.
She left without answering questions.
New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, a Democrat, said Yovanovitch occasionally had to leave the room because she was overcome with emotion as she was “recounting how she was thrown to the wolves” in Ukraine.
“It is clear to me that she was fired because she was a thorn in the side of those who sought to use the Ukrainian government for their own political and financial gain — and that includes President Trump,” Maloney said.
Lawmakers leaving the meeting would not provide specifics from the confidential deposition.
But they indicated that Yovanovitch provided information that would help with the impeachment inquiry.
“It was compelling, it was impactful, it was powerful, and I just feel grateful for the opportunity to have received that information,” said Democratic Rep. Denny Heck, who flew in from Washington state for the interview. He said the eight hours he was there “went like a New York second.”
Yovanovitch “set a very powerful, courageous example,” said Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski of New Jersey.
Republicans leaving the meeting focused their criticism on Democrats, arguing that the president's lawyers should be able to attend the hearings and cross-examine witnesses. “This process is a joke, and the consequences are huge,” New York Rep. Lee Zeldin said.
Trump, in a July 25 phone call, told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Yovanovitch was “bad news,” according to a partial transcript released by the White House.
Neither Giuliani nor Trump has publicly specified their objections to her.