Giuliani pushes to join Trump impeachment defense team: report

President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been pushing to join the White House impeachment defense team, according to multiple reports. 

An informal adviser close to the White House told HuffPost, which first reported Giuliani’s lobbying, that Giuliani has been “working Trump hard” to be among lawyers defending the president in the looming Senate trial. 

A White House official and two sources close to the president told CNN that Giuliani has pressed Trump to put him on the team of lawyers.

Spokespeople for the White House and Giuliani were not immediately available for comment. 

Giuliani has publicly said that he is interested in being involved with the trial. He told reporters at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on New Year’s Eve that he would “love to try the case.” At the same time, he said he would be willing to testify during the trial. 

In an interview last week with Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, Giuliani said the Supreme Court could dismiss the case against Trump. 

“I would say if it’s unconstitutional, it’s null and void,” he said. Trump tweeted the clip, saying “Thank you Rudy!” 

Sources told CNN they do not expect Giuliani, who has emerged as a key figure in the Ukraine scandal that led to Trump being impeached in the House, to join the team. The sources told CNN Trump has been advised against picking Giuliani to join the team. 

“The president is never going to have him in the Senate trial, starting with the problem that he’s a potential witness,” one source close to Trump told CNN.

Giuliani met with Ukrainian officials in an effort to find damaging information on Joe Biden, a leading Democratic presidential candidate, and the former vice president’s son, Hunter Biden. 

U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland testified during the House impeachment hearings that the president directed him to work with Giuliani as he pressured Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. 

Trump also mentioned Giuliani on the July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that is at the heart of the impeachment allegations. 

“I would like him to call you,” Trump said, referring to Giuliani. “I will ask him to call you, along with the attorney general. Rudy very much knows what’s happening and he is a very capable guy.”