Giuliani spars with Stephanopoulos over whistleblower report: ‘Donald Trump was framed by the Democrats’

President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani sparred with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” over the whistleblower report of Trump’s interactions with Ukraine’s leader, calling it “hearsay” and “unreliable” and saying the president “was framed by the Democrats.”

He also repeatedly insisted Congress and the press would have reacted differently if the allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden had been made about Trump and Donald Trump Jr. 

{mosads}”I am defending my client the best way I know how,” Giuliani said. “This is not about getting Joe Biden in trouble, this is about proving that Donald Trump was framed by the Democrats.” 

The president’s lawyer said his own meeting with Andriy Yermak, a Ukrainian official, was set up prior to the president’s phone call with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which became the focus of the whistleblower report. Reports circulated this weekend alleging Giuliani had conversations with Ukrainian officials about getting information on the Bidens.

The president and his lawyer have alleged that Joe Biden, a potential opponent for the president in the 2020 election, and his son were involved in corruption in the Ukraine.

Giuliani circled the conversation back to the allegations against the Bidens, saying that if the case involved Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr., he wouldn’t have been sitting there. He held up two affidavits from Ukraine he said proved his point and several times asked why the information in them wasn’t being investigated.

“Why is this less credible than the whistleblower when this is — this is direct knowledge and the whistleblower is hearsay?” he asked.

There is no evidence to back up Giuliani’s claims that Biden or his son violated Ukrainian laws.  

Appearing later on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Giuliani said that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had not instructed him to meet with Ukrainian officials.

.@RudyGiuliani tells @margbrennan that Secretary Pompeo did not instruct him to reach out to Ukranians, but was “aware” pic.twitter.com/wtS0tLJ3mO

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) September 29, 2019

“He did not,” Giuliani responded when asked by CBS’s Margaret Brennan whether Pompeo had asked him to arrange the meeting. “[Former Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt] Volker did, and [U.S. Ambassador to the European Union] Gordon Sondland did, but when I talked to the secretary last week, he told me he was aware of it.”

“On July 19, 2019, Kurt Volker called me. Text message to prove it; I put it out last week. Would you please — would you allow me to give your phone number to Mr. Yermak, who wants to talk to you to clear up the confusion about your canceled trip to the Ukraine? I said, ‘It’s up to you. Do you think I should do it?’” Giuliani said.

Zack Budryk contributed to this report, which was updated at 11:58 a.m.