Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, on Tuesday vehemently denied that he “flipped” on the former president in the Justice Department’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election.
The denial came on the day Trump said he received a letter from special counsel Jack Smith saying he is a target in the DOJ’s Jan. 6 investigation, foreshadowing a possible indictment.
Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s political adviser, told CNN’s Paula Reid that Giuliani hasn’t received a target letter and that he doesn’t expect his client to be charged in the case.
The lawyer also appeared keen to dispel suspicions that Giuliani may have cooperated with prosecutors investigating Trump.
“Any speculation that Mayor Rudy Giuliani ‘flipped’ against President Donald Trump is as false as previous lies that America’s Mayor was somehow a Russian Agent,” Goodman said in a statement on Twitter.
Goodman continued: “In order to ‘flip’ on President Trump — as many in the anti-Trump media fantasize over — Mayor Giuliani would’ve had to commit perjury, because all info he has on this case points to President Trump’s innocence.”
Giuliani, who pushed baseless vote fraud claims in the aftermath of Trump’s 2020 defeat and encouraged the then-president to fight the results in battleground states, has already spoken to prosecutors, reportedly under a proffer agreement that allows a subject to offer information in exchange for prosecutors’ agreement not to use those particulars against them.
The New York Times has reported that Giuliani was asked about the fake electors scheme, and the roles of Trump attorneys John Eastman and Sidney Powell.
Trump on Tuesday wrote in a Truth Social post that “Deranged Jack Smith,” sent his lawyers a letter saying he is “a TARGET” of the investigation and has “a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy continued standing behind Trump, suggesting the special counsel is politically motivated.
“I guess under a Biden administration, Biden America, you’d expect this,” McCarthy said. “If you noticed, recently, President Trump went up in the polls and was actually surpassing President Biden for reelection. So, what do they do now? Weaponize government to go after their No. 1 opponent.”
Trump already has been charged in two other indictments, first in New York over his role in a hush money payment scheme and then in the DOJ’s case over his mishandling of classified documents. He’s also under investigation in Georgia over efforts to undo Joe Biden’s 2020 win in the state.
Giuliani last year was informed he is a target in Georgia’s probe, and later testified before a grand jury in the case. The prosecutor in that probe has signaled she may decide next month on indictments.
Meanwhile, Michigan’s attorney general on Tuesday charged each of the 16 Republicans who posed as fake Trump electors following the 2020 election with eight felonies.