Giuliani dodges questions on attorney-client relationship with Trump
President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani refused to answer directly Wednesday when asked if he has an official attorney-client agreement with Trump.
“If I did, I wouldn’t show it to you, and what right do you have to ask me that?” Giuliani said to BuzzFeed News during a phone interview. “I’m a private lawyer. I could have a handshake with him. I don’t have to tell you what the basis of my attorney-client relationship is.”
{mosads}When the former New York City mayor was pressed on whether such an agreement existed, he responded, “You have no right to see it. You have no right to ask about it.”
Giuliani’s role in the White House has come under scrutiny after last month’s whistleblower complaint called him a “central figure” in Trump’s push for the Ukrainian president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and Biden’s son.
A partial transcript of a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky released by the White House last month showed Trump telling Zelensky to coordinate with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr on the subject of the Bidens.
Giuliani was subpoenaed on Monday to appear in front of the House as part of its impeachment inquiry. He did not say if he would comply with the subpoena but said it was signed by the Democratic committee chairmen he accused of having “prejudged this case.”
Giuliani suggested Tuesday he would consider suing House members over their actions regarding the impeachment inquiry against the president.
“When has the attorney-client privilege not been a sufficient objection to a demand subpoena where you’re given 15 days to go through two and a half years of work, almost all of which was done to defend my client against their false charges?” he said asked BuzzFeed on Wednesday.
Besides the Ukraine call that sparked the impeachment inquiry, reports came out saying Trump asked the Australian prime minister to help look into the Russia investigation’s origins. Barr has also reportedly asked other foreign leaders to assist in the Justice Department’s inquiry into the Russia probe.