rudy giuliani 700x420
rudy giuliani 700x420

BY ISABEL VAN BRUGEN

President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has hired former Watergate prosecutor Jon Sale to represent him in the congressional impeachment inquiry, he confirmed on Oct. 1.

The Florida-based attorney at Nelson Mullins and former assistant U.S. attorney will represent Giuliani as he battles allegations that he and Trump pressured Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter in a July 25 phone call.

Sale, a longtime friend of Giuliani, confirmed the news in an interview with Politico but didn’t divulge details of their future legal strategy.

“I’ve just gotten involved,” he told the news outlet. “It’s very complex. We’re just starting to analyze what position we should take.”

He added that he and Giuliani will continue to represent Trump amid the congressional investigation, but refused to comment on whether Giuliani is paying him, reported Politico.

The move came after Democrats on Sept. 30 subpoenaed Giuliani concerning the White House’s interactions with Ukraine.

Giuliani was informed of the subpoena in a letter penned by House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), and House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.).

(L) Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in Washington on Sept. 26, 2019. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) (C) Rep. Representative Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) in Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 15, 2018. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images) (R) Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in Washington on July 24, 2019. (Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images)

The letter asked the former mayor of New York City to provide evidence linked to his interaction with the Ukrainian government by Oct. 15.

In response to the subpoena, Giuliani accused Schiff, Engel and Cummings of having “prejudged this case.”

“It raises significant issues concerning legitimacy and constitutional and legal issues including inter alia, attorney-client, and other privileges. It will be given appropriate consideration,” Giuliani said.

In a Fox News appearance following the subpoena, Giuliani said he “doesn’t know” if he would testify. “I’m weighing the alternatives. I’ll get all my evidence together, I’ll get my charts,” he said.

A transcript of Trump and Zelensky’s phone call (pdf) released last week showed that the Zelensky said that he hoped “very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to travel to Ukraine and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine.”

President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the InterContinental Barclay New York hotel during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 25, 2019. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

Trump also told Zelensky during the call that he would have Giuliani speak to him via phone, the transcript said. According to Zelensky, he never talked to him on the phone.

President Donald Trump pauses to answer a reporter’s question about a whistleblower at the White House in Washington on Sept. 30, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

On Oct. 1, Trump said that “almost everything” the person who filed the complaint against him about the phone call is wrong.

“So if the so-called ‘Whistleblower’ has all secondhand information, and almost everything he has said about my ‘perfect’ call with the Ukrainian President is wrong (much to the embarrassment of Pelosi & Schiff), why aren’t we entitled to interview & learn everything about the Whistleblower, and also the person who gave all of the false information to him,” Trump said in a statement.

“This is simply about a phone conversation that could not have been nicer, warmer, or better. No pressure at all (as confirmed by Ukrainian Pres.). It is just another Democrat Hoax!”

Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv on Monday he had never met Giuliani, and wasn’t pressured by the pair to investigate Biden in his phone call with Trump, reported Bloomberg News.

“I want to tell you that I never feel any pressure and there are very many people in the West and in Ukraine who would like to influence me,” Zelensky said.

“But I am a president of independent Ukraine, and I think that, and I hope my steps demonstrate this, that it is impossible to influence me.”

Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.

NH POLITICIAN is owned and operated by USNN World News Corporation, a New Hampshire based media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information, local,...