Somebody get Rudy Giuliani a bigger shovel
Donald J. Trump’s week just took another turn for the worse. The New York Times reporter, Michael Schmidt, informed Rachel Maddow that the raid on Michael Cohen’s office and residences has unnerved the Trump legal team because nobody knows what was confiscated in that raid. Trump and Cohen have remained silent and are not informing the team what might be contained in those files.
To add insult to injury, new Trump legal team front man, Rudy Giuliani, appeared on Fox News tonight. His revelations are a bombshell and may have just buried his client, Donald Trump. Giuliani had a far and wide interview with Sean Hannity. Lawrence O’Donnell credited Hannity (rare event) on the good questions he was asking. Giuliani gave a rambling interview, calling it a “witch hunt” and “a perjury trap.” But then it got bizarre. Giuliani contradicted Trump and Cohen when he said the following:
“Funneled through a law firm, and the president repaid it. He didn’t know about the specifics of it, but he did know about the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this.”
This might explain an interesting question – why did the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey S. Berman, recuse himself from the Michael Cohen matter? It has not been explained. Recall that Giuliani and Berman were partners in a major law firm recently. Giuliani is very clear on the fact that the money was funneled through a law firm and was gloating that it was not campaign finance funds. The latest part must be taken with a grain of salt – where did Trump get the $130,000 that was allegedly used to pay Cohen back the $130,000?
Attorney Michael Avenatti appeared on The Last Word just stunned by the latest revelations, and he is right. In addition to the question of how the money was funneled, potential bank fraud and other serious matters, Giuliani also made it very clear that James Comey was fired for not being willing to say that he was not the subject of the Russia investigation. Giuliani’s reasons for this rambling interview are unknown at present, but he has not helped the cause of his client and may have added to the list of charges against Trump that eventually will be made in this ongoing investigation.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.