Just one day after he brought new annoyance to his client, Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani ranks back: everything is different, his statements about the US president and his Russian business had not corresponded to the actual procedures.
What it’s about: In an interview with TV broadcaster NBC, Giuliani said on Sunday that Trump was in talks with his then lawyer Michael Cohen about a real estate project in Moscow by October or November 2016.
That would be much longer than the US president has admitted so far – until the presidential election. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in December, partly because of his false statements to Congress. Truthfully, Cohen told the committees that the project in Moscow had already been buried in January 2016, before the start of the Republican primaries.
On Monday Giuliani now tried to relativize his interview. His testimony „did not reflect the actual course or circumstances of the discussions“. They were „hypothetical“ and would not be „based on talks“ with Trump.
Giuliani also stated that the project in Moscow was still „at its earliest stage“ and that there had never been more than a non-binding letter of intent.
The chronology is explosive in that it is about whether Trump pursued business interests in Russia at an advanced stage of his election campaign – which in turn could have influenced his political stance on Moscow.
