Stormy skies ahead already for Trump and new lawyer Giuliani
THEY enjoyed a game of golf after he mixed up the Stormy Daniels story, but is Trump’s latest lawyer The Mooch 2.0?
World
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US PRESIDENT Donald Trump is growing increasingly irritated with lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s frequently off-message media blitz.
So far he has muddied the waters on hush money paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels and made claims that could complicate the President’s standing in the special counsel’s Russia probe.
Trump has begun questioning whether Mr Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, should be sidelined from television interviews, according to two people familiar with the President’s thinking but not authorised to speak publicly about private discussions.
And some are wondering if he may turn out to be “The Mooch” 2.0 — comparing Mr Giuliani to Anthony Scaramucci — who only lasted 11 days working with Trump before being fired.
The rumblings come after the Mr Trump and Mr Giuliani played golf together at the weekend — a day after the President told his lawyer to “get his fact rights” about a six-figure payment made to Stormy Daniels.
Mr Trump also expressed annoyance that Mr Giuliani’s theatrics have breathed new life into the Daniels story and extended its lifespan after the 73-year-old maverick lawyer dropped a bombshell on Fox News, saying Mr Trump had paid back hush-money given in October 2016 to the porn star.
It’s a concern shared by Mr Trump allies who think Mr Giuliani is only generating more legal and political trouble for the White House.
Mr Giuliani, the newest addition to the president’s legal team, first rattled the White House last week when he sat for interviews on Fox News and seemed to contradict Mr Trump’s previous statements by saying the President was aware of the October 2016 payout to Daniels from his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.
He also suggested the settlement with Daniels had been made because Mr Trump was in the stretch run of his presidential campaign.
After Mr Trump chided Mr Giuliani to “get his facts straight,” the former mayor put out a statement trying to clarify his remarks.
But in weekend interviews, Mr Giuliani appeared to dig himself a deeper hole, acknowledging that “Cohen takes care of situations like this, then gets paid for them sometimes.”
He didn’t rule out the possibility that Mr Cohen had paid off other women.
Mr Trump, who has denied the affair with Daniels, was angry that Mr Giuliani had given the impression that other women may make similar charges of infidelity, according to the people familiar with his views.
Mr Giuliani was mercilessly parodied, along with his boss, in a Saturday Night Live skit featuring Stormy Daniels playing herself, over the weekend.
The Mooch got similar treatment during his brief tenure.
HE MIGHT BE BENCHED
Mr Trump hasn’t yet told Mr Giuliani to stop appearing on television, but told a confidant recently that perhaps his new lawyer should “be benched” at least temporarily, if he can’t improve his performance.
The President has not publicly discussed dismissing Mr Giuliani and has been appreciative of his sharp attacks on the Russia investigation and his forceful battles with the press, according to three White House aides and outside allies.
The two men have spoken frequently, according to officials familiar with their interactions.
But many Trump allies both inside and outside the White House have grown anxious in recent days about Mr Giuliani’s whirlwind and unpredictable interviews.
“They’re admitting to enough that warrants scrutiny. It shouldn’t be put on television shows off the cuff,” said Alan Dershowitz, the emeritus Harvard law professor who has been informally advising Mr Trump on the Russia collusion probe.
“This is not the way to handle a complicated case.” Mr Trump, according to one confidant, celebrated Mr Giuliani’s hiring last month by declaring that he had enlisted “America’s F***ing Mayor” as a legal attack dog with star power.
THE MOOCH 2.0?
But many in the White House have begun evoking comparisons with Mr Scaramucci — who, like Mr Giuliani, was a hard-charging New Yorker with a knack for getting TV airtime.
The former White House communications director himself drew parallels between his own burn-bright-burn-fast tenure and Mr Giuliani’s performance — but said he meant it as a “big compliment”.
“I am enjoying all of the comparisons between me and the mayor #RudyGiuliani,” Mr Scaramucci tweeted on Sunday. “He is loyal, tough and a fierce competitor.” Mr Giuliani did not respond to requests for comment.
West Wing aides were blindsided by Mr Giuliani’s TV appearances last week and many senior advisers and members of the President’s legal team have been cut out of the decision-making process. But some aides had been reluctant to broach the subject with Mr Trump because it only increased their liability, according to officials.
I am enjoying all of the comparisons between me and the mayor. #RudyGuliani He is loyal, tough and a fierce competitor. He fights and will win for @realDonaldTrump @POTUS. Big compliment thank you!
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) May 6, 2018
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was among those surprised by Mr Giuliani’s string of TV appearances, said on Monday that Mr Trump felt the former mayor “added value” to his outside legal team.
On Friday, Mr Trump said Mr Giuliani was “a great guy but he just started a day ago” on the defence team. He made clear the former New York mayor was still “learning the subject matter.” Some West Wing aides have complained that Mr Giuliani, who ran for president in 2008, was acting like a “principal” and not a member of a team.
And some in Mr Trump’s inner circle raised their eyebrows at Mr Giuliani’s declaration that Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, was “disposable.” He also declined to rule out Mr Trump invoking the Fifth Amendment in special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing Russia probe.
Giuliani’s remarks have also been watched with concern at the State Department and Pentagon after he weighed in recently on international affairs, raising questions about whether he was speaking for the President.
He declared last week that North Korea would be releasing three Americans being held captive, which has not yet happened, and said the administration was committed to regime change in Iran, a stance Mr Trump has not taken.
“He speaks for himself and not on behalf of the administration on foreign policy,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
Originally published as Stormy skies ahead already for Trump and new lawyer Giuliani
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