A week after his impeachment acquittal, Trump has basically admitted to the very thing he’s denied for months, including sending his attorney Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to find damaging information about his political opponents.
According to CNN, the complete and brazen reversal came during a podcast interview with journalist Geraldo Rivera, who asked, “Was it strange to send Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine, your personal lawyer? Are you sorry you did that?” To which Trump responded proudly, “No, not at all,” and praised Giuliani’s role as a “crime fighter.”
During his blatant confession, Trump explained, “Here’s my choice: I deal with the Comeys of the world, or I deal with Rudy,” Trump said, referring to former FBI Director James Comey. Trump revealed that he has “a very bad taste” of the US intelligence community, because of the Russia investigation, so he turned to Giuliani.
Trump had vehemently denied previously that he had sent Rudy to the Ukraine. When he was asked in November if he directed Giuliani to “do anything” in Ukraine, Trump said, “No, I didn’t direct him,” but went on to claim Giuliani was a “great corruption fighter.”
Giuliani has maintained that he’s exposing legitimate corruption in Ukraine, even though all of his claims about former Vice President and current democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden have been widely debunked.
In his interview with Rivera, Trump maintained his decision to “use” Giuliani, even though US diplomats previously testified that Giuliani had undermined long-standing US policy toward Ukraine.
Giuliani was a key piece in the scandal that led to Trump’s impeachment, though he was acquitted by the Senate last week.
During the impeachment trial, multiple witnesses testified about how Giuliani met with former Ukrainian officials in an aggressive search for dirt against Joe and Hunter Biden. Other key players also described how Giuliani and his allies pressured Ukraine to announce investigations into the Bidens.
Since his acquittal, the former reality TV star has taken bold steps against his opponents and rewarded his supporters, including firing US officials who testified against him during the trial.
