This morning the president’s lawyer tweeted:
The below excerpt from Wikipedia, if true, is another indication that the Steele Dossier about Russia is a phony work of political opposition research. Comey never bothered to check when Steele was last in Russia. So where was it written and who wrote it? We demand answers!
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) March 22, 2019
Giuliani’s shoot-from-the-hips lawyering is already legendary but this tweet is special on so many levels. Let us count the ways:
- Citing Wikipedia as a source.
- Adding the proviso “if true” to highlight how dubious the source is.
- Saying the “below excerpt” when you don’t provide a link or excerpt.
- And most importantly, relying on the pretence that the Steele Dossier is relevant to Trump’s legal troubles, when in fact the Mueller investigation was started for other reasons.
It’s hard to think of a lawyer comparable to Rudy Guiliani unless one turns to satirical animated cartoons.