The Extraordinary Influence of Rudy Giuliani

[babylonsister]

The Extraordinary Influence of Rudy Giuliani
With his love of conspiracy theories and associations with criminal elements, the president’s personal attorney may well be the agent of Trump’s destruction.
by Paul Waldman
October 14, 2019

snip//

Other presidents have had outside advisers they turned to for counsel; some of those advisers have even shaped the president’s thinking. But it’s nearly impossible to think of any presidential friend who became what Giuliani has become: Someone with no government position who not only has the president’s ear but can get his own wishes translated into policy, no matter how corrupt they might be.

Rudy Giuliani is making American foreign policy, got a respected U.S. ambassador fired, and has even convinced the president to attempt (albeit without success) to kill a prosecution of one of his clients. He travels the world as the representative of the president, yet is bound by no rules of ethics or disclosures that might tell us, among other things, who’s paying him. “He is seemingly free to hold himself out as someone acting on behalf of the U.S. government,” Trevor Potter and Delaney Marsco point out, “but without the legal obligations that would prevent him from using that authority to line his pockets, perform political favors and advance the interests of himself or his unknown clients.”

To make things even worse, this extraordinary influence is being exercised by someone who is—how should I put this—bonkers.

Giuliani confesses to wrongdoing by himself or his client so often that the idea that he’ll admit to new crimes with each interview he does has become a running joke. He holds up a printout from an obscure right-wing web site and claims it’s an “affidavit.” He denies squeezing Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, then when asked seconds later if he squeezed Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, says “Of course I did!” He tells reporters things like “We’re not meddling in an election, we’re meddling in an investigation.” His public statements are so full of falsehoods that they can only be compared to those of one other person.

With his love of ludicrous conspiracy theories and associations with criminal elements, it’s obvious why Giuliani and President Trump get along so well. But he may well be the agent of Trump’s destruction.

more...

https://prospect.org/impeachment/extraordinary-influence-of-rudy-giuliani/