Giuliani Peddles Nonsensical Notion That Trump Only ‘Requested,’ Didn’t ‘Demand’ Quid Pro Quo

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 12: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks to reporters at Trump Tower, January 12, 2017 in New York City. President-elect Trump continues to hold meetings Trump Tower. (Photo by Drew ... NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 12: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks to reporters at Trump Tower, January 12, 2017 in New York City. President-elect Trump continues to hold meetings Trump Tower. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed Tuesday, centering his case for President Donald Trump’s innocence on the dubious logic that Trump only “requested” and did not “demand” that the Ukrainian President make up a Biden scandal.

“Moreover, Mr. Trump requested that Ukraine root out corruption; he didn’t demand it,” he wrote. “His words were cordial, agreeable and free of any element of threat or coercion. Mr. Trump offered nothing in return to Ukraine for cleaning up corruption.”

In fact, many witnesses in the impeachment inquiry have now testified to the fact that military aid to Ukraine was held back as leverage to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to go after the Bidens.

However, as spurious as the logic may seem, Giuliani may be getting at the newest Republican talking point to push back against the inquiry, now that their complaints about the private hearings are moot. They seem to be floating a “it wasn’t a crime because it was unsuccessful” kind of approach — that any pressure Trump put on Ukraine didn’t matter, because he ended up releasing the military aid without getting what he wanted in return.

Giuliani has become increasingly implicated in the Ukraine pressure campaign, and recently lawyered up as federal investigators scrutinize his business relationship with his now-arrested associates Lev Parns and Igor Fruman.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Oh, Rutabaga, you’re just such a card.

    Bless your heart.

    :smirk:

  2. Right, so if someone goes into a bank, points a gun at a teller and demands money, they haven’t committed a crime if they don’t get any. F***ing asshole.

  3. The shallowness of this bodes well for us.

  4. Avatar for dcd dcd says:

    Rudy is a lawyer. His lawyer defense here: asking for a bribe is ok if you do it nicely.

    This is what they’ve been reduced to, and yet the party of treason still backs president traitor. What a fucking disgrace.

  5. No, they haven’t committed a crime if they point a gun and simply request the money.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

88 more replies

Participants

Avatar for fgs Avatar for cervantes Avatar for trnc Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for sandyh Avatar for Lacuna-Synecdoche Avatar for sickneffintired Avatar for lastroth Avatar for generalsternwood Avatar for ronbyers Avatar for bailiwick Avatar for darrtown Avatar for benthere Avatar for jonney_5 Avatar for misterneutron Avatar for rickjones Avatar for lizzymom Avatar for katscherger Avatar for euglena4056 Avatar for yellowbeard Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for filmknight Avatar for ldcolton Avatar for kovie

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: