San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Mueller’s team is said to view Giuliani more as a spokesman
WASHINGTON — Rudy Giuliani has yet to significantly affect the course of Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation despite being a near-constant presence on TV since he became President Donald Trump’s lawyer, said current and former officials familiar with the special counsel’s approach.
For example, Giuliani told several media outlets that he wants to see secret FBI documents related to the origin of the Russia investigation, including the use of a confidential informant.
So he asked for the documents — informally. There was no response from the Justice Department or Mueller.
The incident illustrates how nearly two months after joining Trump’s legal team, Giuliani isn’t seen as a power player with the legal authority to go against Mueller’s team of career prosecutors, current and former U.S. law enforcement officials said. He may be speaking loudly to the public, but he’s not speaking the language of Mueller’s world, which comes in the form of legal filings, case law and investigative evidence. Giuliani has met with Mueller only once.
The former New York mayor’s entry into Trump’s legal team came as Mueller’s investigation was entering its second year and widening to include a growing number of Trump associates. And Mueller is showing no sign of slowing down, though Giulia- ni has repeatedly called for him to wrap up the investigation by September.
In an interview, Giuliani defended his strategy and asserted that public opinion related to Mueller’s investigation has turned in Trump’s favor. “If we have such a bad strategy, then how do we turn public opinion with a hostile press,” he said.
“If public opinion is against them, they can’t do anything,” Giuliani said, arguing that his work will undermine the credibility of any report Mueller sends to the Justice Department for possible action against Trump. “The report will go nowhere, and we will be able to counter with our own report, which I’ll be involved in writing.”