This Donald Trump – Rudy Giuliani twist is even weirder than you think
While Donald J. Trump has gone silent on his tweets, we are towards the end of the work week. With it comes drama and reports, each and every Thursday and Friday.
The first news reported about the Mueller investigation was a story making its way onto the radar that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein informed President Trump last week that he is not a target in the Michael Cohen investigation. The sources have not been identified and this might be possible, but one must question whether Rosenstein would take any such steps, given the probe into Cohen is early and is alleged to involve a number of matters that might impact Trump personally, including but not limited to the Stormy Daniels matter.
Anything is possible in the current environment, but at best, one might expect some caveated language that he is not the current target or something similar. Other reports in the last week have indicated Mueller is drafting a series of findings for a report.
In other news, Rudolph Giuliani is reported to have joined Trump’s legal team, hoping “we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country.” Giuliani stated he will take a leave from his current law firm. Giuliani has been out of the spotlight lately and many wondered what he was doing. The joining of the team is interesting on a number of levels, including but not limited to the potential that Giuliani might be part of the Mueller investigation.
In testimony James Comey made to Congress in 2017 and in subsequent reports, there were discussions about Giuliani. In addition, Geoffrey Berman, who has recused himself in the Cohen matter, was a partner with Giuliani at the same law firm just before his interim appointment as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Reasons for Berman’s recusal are not clear, but it could portend conflict challenges for Giuliani.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.