Why is the Trump team still sending Rudy Giuliani on television? This weekend, he appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation, where he melted down over the conclusion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. If you thought that the president’s camp would stop their public meltdowns because Mueller’s team concluded there was no evidence of criminally prosecutable conspiracy or coordination between the Trump team and the Kremlin, Giuliani proved you wrong this Sunday morning.
He repeatedly ripped into the character and credibility of Mueller’s team, which host Margaret Brennan pointed out could seem to contradict their acceptance of their findings, but of course, Giuiani saw no issue.
He attempted to shred the special counsel’s credibility, offering:
‘The Mueller group has been leaking all along — how did CNN end up at Roger Stone’s raid?’
To be clear, CNN thought something might happen at Stone’s residence because they noticed activity during their continued in-person monitoring of the special counsel’s team’s activities. A bunch of journalists had been participating in the on the scene reporting — it’s really not that complicated. There’s no secret conspiracy.
Noting that, Brennan asserted to the New York City mayor turned presidential lawyer:
‘But for 22 months, you have to acknowledge the special counsel’s office didn’t leak.’
Giuliani shot back:
‘Hell no, hell no. I got plenty of — “they’re saying this, they’re saying that.” They knew all about our battle over questions. They knew about the positions we took.’
He continued, explaining how he can justify lambasting Mueller’s team while touting their own supposed complete innocence:
‘If Andrew Weissmann who was crying at Hillary Clinton’s losing party couldn’t find anything — if Ms. Rhee who was counsel to the Clinton Foundation couldn’t find anything — believe me, there was nothing there. They tried to make things up — they put so much pressure on people, keeping them in solitary confinement.’
.@RudyGiuliani says the “Mueller group has been leaking all along.” @margbrennan: “But for 22 months, you have to acknowledge the special counsel’s office did not leak.”
Giuliani: “Hell no. Hell no.” pic.twitter.com/E40kv0trJT— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 7, 2019
There’s no immediate evidence for lead Mueller team prosecutor Andrew Weissmann having cried at Clinton’s gathering on election night 2016, although Trump has raised the claim himself in the past. Weissmann helped orchestrate the multipronged criminal case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort that landed him a seven and a half year jail sentence, so the president’s camp has good reason to be worried.
That’s not all of the strange allegations that Giuliani had, however, parroting a claim from right-wing media that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) was discussing aiming to impeach Trump before the Mueller report ever came out.
He asserted:
‘Jerry Nadler prejudged this case a year ago, talking about impeachment. He was overheard on Amtrak talking about impeachment well before the report came out. So when he talks about the attorney general being biased — and on his committee, my goodness! He’s got some of the most rabid people that hate Trump. We’re not going before a court here. We’re going before a political body that is highly partisan and has made up its mind.’
.@RudyGiuliani says “@RepJerryNadler prejudged this case a year ago…he was overheard on Amtrak talking about impeachment well before the report came out” pic.twitter.com/6Ef8ruGXJ9
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 7, 2019
The original allegations against Nadler that Giuliani mentions don’t even have a quote. In The Federalist, right wing commentator Mollie Hemingway asserted that Nadler “said Russia investigations would be under a broad umbrella of holding Trump “accountable,” since it’s a more palatable argument than impeachment.” The Congressman has denied the claim and has separately repeatedly pushed back against rushing to impeachment.
That’s all Giuliani’s got.
Overall, Giuliani’s latest appearance on CBS was heavy on that sort of behavior and light on facts. He couldn’t even tell Brennan what, if any material would be redacted in the version of the Mueller report that’s soon to be released to Congress.
