Rudy Giuliani has long claimed that he was working for the State Department while he was acting as a go-between for Donald Trump and Ukraine leaders, but in an interview on Wednesday, the president’s personal lawyer clearly stated that he was working for Trump in a private capacity. The admission, according to a constitutional law expert, constitutes the “highest of high crimes.”
According to a report from Law & Crime , Giuliani wrote a message on social media meant to clarify his role in the scandal that has resulted in an impeachment inquiry against the president. The former mayor of New York is a major focus of the investigation led by House Democrats.
“With all the Fake News let me make it clear that everything I did was to discover evidence to defend my client against false charges. [Democrats] would be horrified by the attacks on me, if my client was a terrorist. But they don’t believe [President Donald Trump] has rights,” Giuliani wrote.
According to Marty Lederman, a Georgetown University Law Center Professor, Giuliani’s tweet is a confession that he was working as a private individual and not an employee of the United States government. Lederman, who is an expert in constitutional and national security law and a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, says that the admission is bad news for Giuliani.
It means that Giuliani was acting to benefit his client, not the country, and was attempting to advance Trump’s interests, Lederman said.
“This is the highest of high crimes–using the leverage of his position as chief diplomat to advance his own interests—and it’s hard to imagine anything more inconsistent w/Trump’s constitutional oath & duty and more revealing of his utter unfitness for office. And that’d be true *even if there were no quid pro quo*.”
Giuliani is also the focus of a federal investigation in the Southern District of New York for his role in the Ukraine scandal.
George Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, was also shocked by the admission. He tweeted that Giuliani’s social media message was evidence that Trump was working to benefit himself by pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political opponent Joe Biden, and not working on behalf of the nation.
Elie Honig, a CNN legal analyst, echoed the comments, saying that Giuliani’s tweet was an admission that he was working to benefit Trump, which is a crime. Honig advised Giuliani to get a lawyer.
Rep. Jamie Raskin: “Rudy Giuliani has clearly been a leading force for the administration in defining a shadow foreign policy in Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/dOfU97yrzo
— The Hill (@thehill) October 15, 2019
Giuliani has also flirted with legal danger after refusing to cooperate with the House impeachment inquiry, as The Inquisitr previously reported.