Giuliani Advises Trump to 'Absolutely, 100%' Investigate Biden after Senate Acquittal
President's personal attorney says Biden family dealings in Ukraine must be investigated
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Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani says the president should "absolutely, 100%" investigate Joe Biden and his family's dealings in Ukraine, as soon as he is acquitted in the Senate's impeachment trial.
Former New York City Mayor Giuliani is advising President Trump not to back away from investigating allegations of corruption involving the ex-vice president and his son Hunter Biden.
Giuliani told NPR in a Tuesday interview that he "absolutely" wants Trump to launch a probe.
"I would have no problem with him doing it," Giuliani told the outlet.
"In fact, I'd have a problem with him not doing it.
"I think he would be saying that Joe Biden can get away with selling out the United States, making us a fool in the Ukraine."
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During the events that ultimately resulted in Trump's impeachment in December by the House of Representatives, and the president's Senate trial, Giuliani has emerged as a pivotal figure.
Giuliani called the president's expected acquittal "a total vindication."
But while most Republican senators have supported Trump, some, including Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, have expressed reservations about Trump's alleged actions, saying it would be "inappropriate" to investigate his political opponent.
Giuliani pushed back against that idea, saying Alexander and other GOP senators who have expressed similar reservations don't "understand the facts."
"Lamar is wrong, and Lamar is a good friend of mine, and he's a fine man except he doesn't know all the facts," Giuliani said.
He "only knows half the facts; a lot of them distorted."
At the center of the debate is the July 25 phone call between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president.
Democrats say Trump asked Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter in exchange for a release of suspended military aid and a White House visit.
Trump calls the phone call "perfect."
The transcript of the call also shows Trump didn't ask Zelensky to investigate anything, nor was U.S. aid even mentioned.
In Giuliani's telling, "the whole Ukrainian thing is misrepresented.
"The Democrats did do a good job of spinning it to 'he's trying to hurt Joe Biden.'
"It has nothing to do with Joe Biden."
As vice president, Biden held back aid to Ukraine as part of official U.S. policy to force the country to remove its top prosecutor Viktor Shokin.
At a 2018 event, Biden even boasted about doing so.
Republicans have pointed to the fact that Hunter Biden had been on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma.
Shokin was investigating Burisma for alleged wrongdoing, but well before Hunter Biden joined the company's board.
Burisma hired Hunter Biden, despite his total lack of experience for the job and paid him up to $50,000 a month.
After hiring Hunter, Shokin was forced out of his job and his investigations in Burisma were dropped.
Giuliani says there is a long record of corruption orchestrated by Biden that goes back at least as far back as two decades.
Biden's role in Ukraine, he said, needs further investigation.
"I believe that it would be one of the great corrupt events in American history if this case is not investigated at the highest levels of two governments" — the United States and Ukraine, he said.
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Last week, The New York Times published details from former national security adviser John Bolton's upcoming book, alleging that Trump told Bolton to call Ukraine's president to encourage him to meet with Giuliani.
Giuliani has previously denied there was anything illegal about such an ask and has noted that he had made clear in his correspondence with Ukraine's leader that he was acting as Trump's personal lawyer — not in his role as president.
Ultimately, no such meeting ever occurred.
Lev Parnas, a Giuliani associate, has also been feeding information to House Democrats that he says lays bare Trump and Giuliani's actions in Ukraine.
Parnas, who was indicted on charges related to campaign finance violations in a separate case, has vowed to tell the truth and has left the door open to cooperating with prosecutors.
Giuliani said he's not concerned by his former associate's actions.
"If he flipped, it's because he doesn't know anything," he said.
In December, Giuliani said he had “evidence” that Joe Biden and other Obama administration officials “contributed to the increased level of corruption in Ukraine in 2014 and 2016.”
Mr. Giuliani declined to say whether he has turned over any of this material to the Justice Department, however.
