Trump Urged Top Aide to Help Giuliani Client Facing DOJ Charges

[swag]

Source: Bloomberg

By Nick Wadhams
, Saleha Mohsin
, Stephanie Baker
, and Jennifer Jacobs
October 9, 2019, 3:27 PM PDT

President Donald Trump pressed then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to help persuade the Justice Department to drop a criminal case against an Iranian-Turkish gold trader who was a client of Rudy Giuliani, according to three people familiar with the 2017 meeting in the Oval Office.

Tillerson refused, arguing it would constitute interference in an ongoing investigation of the trader, Reza Zarrab, according to the people. They said other participants in the Oval Office were shocked by the request.

Tillerson immediately repeated his objections to then-Chief of Staff John Kelly in a hallway conversation just outside the Oval Office, emphasizing that the request would be illegal. Neither episode has been previously reported, and all of the people spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the conversations.

The White House declined to comment. Kelly and Tillerson declined to comment via representatives. Another person familiar with the matter said the Justice Department never considered dropping the criminal case.

Read more: https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiEGsAA8Ly716951UWFYCepnQqGQgEKhAIACoHCAow4uzwCjCF3bsCMIrOrwM?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

[lonely bird]

1. Any idiot who hires Rudy

Deserves what happens to him.

[not fooled]

2. What's a little more corruption

in the swamp?

Disgusting. Even an amoral predator like tillerson refused.

[Still In Wisconsin]

6. Yeah Tillerson is smart enough to know he might get caught.

His refusal has nothing to do with morals.

[dalton99a]

7. +1. He climbed up the ranks at ExxonMobil and knew all the traps

[vsrazdem]

3. I wonder how many of the Mueller criminal referrals were suddenly dropped?

[swag]

4. Yeah, huh. All of them, no doubt.

[UpInArms]

5. Blurb of this up on Marketwatch now

Trump asked Tillerson to get DOJ to drop case against Giuliani client in 2017: report

President Donald Trump asked then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to persuade the Justice Department to drop charges against a client of Rudy Giuliani in 2017, according to a report by Bloomberg News late Wednesday. The client, Iranian-Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab, was being prosecuted for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had sought his release. Tillerson refused to intervene, Bloomberg reported, saying it would be illegal interference in a prosecution. Tillerson reportedly complained to then-White House chief of staff John Kelly, and the Justice Department apparently never considered dropping the charges. The report is likely to fuel criticism of Trump's dealings with Erdogan and other autocrats, and adds to a number of serious allegations of improper conduct and potentially impeachable offenses.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-asked-tillerson-to-get-doj-to-drop-case-against-giuliani-client-in-2017-report-2019-10-09?mod=home-page