Rudy Giuliani goes gaga
“President” Donald J. Trump has used his personal attorney, Rudy “the G(aga)-man” Giuliani, as a fixer for a variety of nefarious matters. Giuliani, respected for his response to the 9/11 tragedy as Mayor of New York at the time, has fallen from that image. It turns out, he better get his own fixer, because things have exploded on Thursday.
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who were both Giuliani clients and associates who made donations to a pro-Trump super PAC, have been arrested on criminal charges of violating campaign finance laws. The pair had been under investigation by the Southern District of New York since February, and reportedly were arrested trying to flee the country to avoid Congressional subpoenas.
The pair gave money to Kevin McCarthy and to Pete Sessions. The latter is believed to be “Congressman-1” in the Parnas and Fruman indictment.
Sessions’ finance disclosures seem to confirm that it is him, and he has had major interactions with those two. The indictment alleges that one of the two indicted men sought “Congressman-1’s assistance in causing the U.S. government to remove or recall the then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine.”
While the G(aga)-man tries to address other fronts, such as the revelation that Donald Trump illegally pressured Rex Tillerson to do a favor for a Giuliani client, with Giuliani calling it a “hit job,” he might best turn to his focus in this indictment. What we are seeing is the GOP Gang that couldn’t shoot straight in real time, raising the focus on various matters such as Ukraine while they have a huge scandal at their feet. Giuliani should consider lawyering up and perhaps a cooperation deal. We know he knows how to set up cooperation deals from his time as a United States Attorney.
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.