In a series of television appearances this Sunday, the former mayor of New York continued to spread his version of the facts concerning the Ukraine story that resulted in a formal impeachment inquiry by the House Democrats.
As a matter of fact, Giuliani was very quick to say he would cooperate with the House’s impeachment inquiry only if Trump gave him permission, according to the Associated Press. Of course, this is conditional with the removal of Adam Schiff, whose House Intelligence Committee is taking the lead on the impeachment investigation.
The release last week of a rough transcript of Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the whistleblower’s complaint have put Trump’s own words and actions under heightened scrutiny, and directly implicated Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr in the mess.
A transcript released by the White House quotes Trump urging Zelensky to launch an investigation and instructing him to speak with US Attorney General William Barr and Giuliani, according to Business Insider.
Besides his regular appearances on Fox News, Giuliani appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and CBS’ “Face the Nation,” while Adam Schiff was interviewed on ABC and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Face the Nation interview
Giuliani implicated Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo in the Ukraine mess on Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” saying Pompeo was aware of his efforts to persuade Ukrainian authorities to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.
Rudy Giuliani says that Secretary is State Mike Pompeo did not instruct him to reach out to Ukranians, but that Pompeo was “aware.”
Via CBS pic.twitter.com/Lbc3Dl74Tq— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 29, 2019
Giuliani said Pompeo knew he pushed for Biden, who is a Democratic hopeful in the 2020 Election, to be investigated, adding to allegations that Trump pressured foreign officials to investigate his political opponent for his own political gain.
Yet when asked directly by host Margaret Brennan: “Did Secretary of State Pompeo know you were doing these things? Did he ask you to do these things?” Giuliani responded: “He did not. But when I talked to the secretary last week, he said that he was aware of it.”
The public is left to sort these statements out, and the closest I can come is to say that Pompeo was aware of what Giuliani was doing, but, he didn’t ask Giuliani to do it.
Asked repeatedly if he would cooperate with House Intelligence Committee, Rudy Giuliani tells @ThisWeekABC, “I wouldn't cooperate with Adam Schiff,” but then says he would “consider” it were chair Adam Schiff removed. pic.twitter.com/rO9PC6uoPv
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 29, 2019
On ABC’s This Week Sunday, Giuliani repeatedly dodged host George Stephanopoulos’ direct questions about whether he would refuse to cooperate with the House Intelligence Committee on the Ukraine allegations involving him, according to Newsweek.
However, the little mayor of New York continued to blast Biden and his son, Hunter, for what he described as a “very serious sell-out of public offices.”
“Believe it or not, I’m an attorney, everything I did was to defend my client and I’m proud of what I did and I’m proud that I uncovered what will turn out to be a massive pay-for-play scheme not unlike the Clinton Foundation.”
“So will you not cooperate with the House Intelligence Committee?” Stephanopoulos asked on several occasions. “I wouldn’t cooperate with Adam Schiff,” Giuliani replied. “I think Adam Schiff should be removed,” Giuliani said. He wants a “neutral person” put in his place as chairman of the House committee, and only then will he even consider cooperating with Congress.
Giuliani says he’d only cooperate with impeachment investigation with Trump’s permission: “If he decides that he wants me to testify, of course I’ll testify,” Giuliani said September 29, 2019
To add to this farce, Giuliani told Fox News host Jeanine Pirro Saturday night it would have been unlawful if he or the president had not contacted Ukraine about the Bidens’ alleged shady dealings.
“If I didn’t investigate it, I would be committing malpractice,” Giuliani said Saturday on Fox News. “This was given to me, I wasn’t looking for it, this was given to me by a very legitimate American investigator and lawyer…I’m not like that whistleblower, with hearsay, I have direct evidence.”
Frankly, Giuliani and Trump seem to have melded into the same talking face – all bluster and pursed lips looking more like an over-filled helium balloon than anything else. And the hot air being expelled every time either one of them speaks gets smellier every day.
As for Rudy Giuliani, I have lost all respect for the man who led New York City through that terrible time of the 2001, 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Giuliani coordinated the response of various city departments while organizing the support of state and federal authorities for the World Trade Center site, for citywide anti-terrorist measures, and for the restoration of destroyed infrastructure.
But Giuliani went from being lauded by Oprah Winfree as “America’s Mayor” at a 9/11 memorial service held at Yankee Stadium on September 23, 2001, to nothing more than a bookmark in the city’s history by 2007.
Sally Regenhard, mother of firefighter Christian Regenhard who died on September 11, and co-founder of the Skyscraper Safety Campaign, vowed to expose the truths of Giuliani’s actions on 9/11 before 2008, stating, “I can’t see why any 9/11 family member who knows the truth about the failures of the Giuliani administration … would not be outraged.”
She said in April 2007, “The bitter truth is that Rudy Giuliani is building a path to the White House over the bodies of 343 firefighters.”
Now, I lament the loss of the Rudy Giuliani I remember in 2001, and wonder just exactly when he became a Trump stooge.
