Rudy Giuliani appeared to slightly shift the timeline on Sunday about how long discussions went on in 2016 about a potential Trump Tower project in Moscow.
In two separate interviews, he was bombarded with questions about the various legal predicaments in which President Trump finds himself and at times seemed to muddy the waters as he again worked to downplay any possible jeopardy for his client.
In an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC’s “This Week,” Giuliani was asked about Michael Cohen, a previous lawyer and personal fixer for Trump, saying in a prior interview that the then-candidate wanted him to silence women alleging personal affairs with Trump in order to win the presidential election.
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“Pathetic. The man is pathetic,” Giuliani immediately responded. “That's a lawyer you were interviewing and he says he—oh, he directed me to do it and, oh my goodness, he directed me. He's a lawyer.”
Pressed further on the Southern District of New York validating Cohen’s claims in a recent sentencing memo, Giuliani first said “They don't have corroborating evidence” and later in the interview said “It’s not a crime. It’s not a crime, George. Paying—paying $130,000 to Stormy whatever and paying $130,000 to the other one is not a crime.”
Additionally, Giuliani seemed to adjust a timeline pertaining to Trump’s knowledge of Cohen’s pursuit of a Trump Tower deal in Moscow.
“Did the president—did Donald Trump know that Michael Cohen was pursuing the Trump Tower in Moscow into the summer of 2016?” Giuliani was asked.
“According to the answer that he gave, it would have covered all the way up to— covered up to November, 2016,” Giuliani responded.
Stephanopoulos pressed on saying: “Earlier they had said those conversations stopped in January, 2016.”
“I don’t—I mean, the date—I mean, until you actually sit down and you look at the questions, and you go back and you look at the papers and you look at the the—you’re not going to know what happened,” Giuliani continued. “That’s why—that’s why lawyers, you know, prepare for those answers.”
Previously, he had told The Daily Beast in an interview that the legal team would not rule out any dates that Cohen and Trump may have spoken about the deal including up to Trump's election.
In regards to another avenue of pursuit for special counsel Robert Mueller, Giuliani was asked about whether Roger Stone, a longtime friend and previous aide to Trump, had given the president any heads-up of impending information that was distributed by WikiLeaks.
“I don’t believe so,” Giuliani said in response. “But again, If Roger Stone gave anybody a heads-up about WikiLeaks leaks, that’s not a crime. It would be like giving him a heads-up that the Times is going to print something.”
Mueller has said that Cohen briefed Trump about the prospective Trump Tower deal during the 2016 campaign. Cohen admitted that he lied to Congress when he testified that conversations ended in January 2016. In written answers to Mueller, Giuliani attempted to distance the president from the deal saying it was “Cohen’s deal.”
CNN reported on Friday that Mueller is still interested in interviewing the president in addition to the submitted written answers. Giuliani was asked about this as well, during a separate interview on Sunday with Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday.
“Has his office reached out to you about sitting down for an in-person interview with the president?” Wallace asked.
“Yes, there are several unpaid parking tickets back in 1986-87 that haven’t been explained,” Giuliani quipped in response.
“Seriously?” Wallace said in disbelief.
“Yeah good luck,” Giuliani said when asked the question about an interview again. “Over my dead body, but you know, I could be dead.”
