Giuliani Suggests Trump May Resist Special Counsel Subpoena
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) - Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is now a lawyer for President Donald Trump, has set the stage for a possible subpoena showdown with special counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia investigation.
Over the weekend, Giuliani appeared on a number of talk shows and said he's still "getting up to speed on the facts" and suggested the president might resist a subpoena from Mueller, compelling him to testify under oath.
"We don't have to, he's the President of the United States. We can assert the same privileges other presidents have," said Giuliani.
He did not rule out to ABC News that Trump could plead the Fifth Amendment if compelled to testify.
Democrats, however, say the president must cooperate.
"He's going to need to comply with the subpoena. If they take that case to court, they're going to lose," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-CA.
Questions also remain over payments Trump made to his personal lawyer Michael Cohen for alleged hush money paid to Stormy Daniels during the election.
Giuliani says it was all legal.
"The whole situation of the $130,000 doesn't require an analysis of the facts because it wasn't intended as a campaign contribution. It was intended as a personal, embarrassing, harassing claim."
Giuliani also told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that Cohen could have doled out payments like the one he made to Daniels to other women, though he said he had "no knowledge" of other such agreements.
Giuliani spoke with CNN after meeting with Trump on what the former New York mayor described as a "mostly social" visit.
"He was in a good mood and feels like things are moving in the right direction," Giuliani said.
Giuliani said they have "an agreed upon plan," but noted the plan is flexible, depending on what they see from Mueller.
Giuliani expanded on comments he has made about his role, saying from the start, he would be focused on legal issues, leaving Trump free to focus on the work of the presidency.
"He has a lot bigger things to focus on than this investigation coming to a head right now, whether it's Iran or North Korea," Giuliani said. "So the President's concentration has to be on that."
He went on to assert that the need for presidents to focus on overseeing the country is "why the founding fathers created immunity for a president, so the President can't be indicted."
Giuliani also said he thought Daniels' appearance on the latest episode of "Saturday Night Live" undermined the seriousness of her claims and touted comments on Friday from a federal judge in Virginia, T.S. Ellis, questioning Mueller's intentions.
"I'm really happy with the judge's analysis of the (former Trump campaign Chairman Paul) Manafort case, his furious warnings to the special counsel because they apply with equal force to our case," Giuliani said.
Giuliani joined Trump's legal team last month, and in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity last Wednesday, he admitted for the first time that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for the payment to Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford.
Trump on Friday said Giuliani was still getting his facts straight in the early days of his time on the President's legal team, and since that interview Wednesday, Giuliani has continued to speak at length in Trump's defense.
(©2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. CNN contributed to this report.)
