Robert Costello, a lawyer representing Rudy Giuliani, said on Wednesday that he had to make his mercurial client call President Donald Trump “within the last day” to reassure him that all his “insurance” talk was just a joke.
Costello told Reuters that Giuliani had called Trump to reassure him “at my insistence.”
“He shouldn’t joke, he is not a funny guy,” the attorney said. “I told him, ‘Ten thousand comedians are out of work, and you make a joke. It doesn’t work that way.'”
As House impeachment investigators dig into Trump and Giuliani’s scheme to use U.S.-Ukraine relations to manufacture dirt on Trump’s political enemies, Giuliani has mentioned on several occasions having some mysterious “insurance” in case Trump tries to pin the blame on him.
In one instance less than two weeks ago, Costello had to intervene when Giuliani told the Guardian all his “hospital bills will be paid” in the event Trump throws him under the bus, thanks to his “very, very good insurance.”
“He’s joking,” Costello said after his client made the comment.
Giuliani touted his “insurance” again on Saturday during an interview on Fox News, then backtracked a few hours later and claimed he was merely being sarcastic.
For his part, Trump didn’t seem all that worried about it on Monday.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Trump said when asked about his lawyer’s comments. “Rudy’s a great guy.”
Trump’s lack of concern became even more apparent the next day when he told conservative radio host Bill O’Reilly that he had not directed Giuliani to go to Ukraine–thus chucking the lawyer, who may or may not have insurance, right under the bus.
