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Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and current lawyer for U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks to members of the media during a White House Sports and Fitness Day at the South Lawn of the White House May 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Scrambling to Cover President's Ass, Sekulow and Giuliani Say Trump Demand to End Mueller Probe Not Official Order
"Cleanup on aisle 5" for president's personal legal team
Aug 01, 2018
With legal experts already warning that a tweet from President Donald Trump earlier in the day calling on Attorney Jeff Sessions to end the Mueller probe "right now" could constitute a direct and very public act of obstruction of justice, the president's personal legal team jumped into action in what appeared like an effort to save their client's ass.
According to the Washington Post, who received comment from both Jay Sekulow and Rudy Giuliani, the pair of Trump's personal attorneys were quickly trying to put out the fire by saying that what Trump said was not an "explicit command" or an official presidential order.
"He carefully used the word, 'should,'" Giuliani told the Post. And Sekulow reportedly added: "The president has issued no order or direction to the Department of Justice on this."
The president's team also issued a statement to ABC News. "We have been saying for months that it is time to bring this inquiry to an end," Giuliani declared. "The President has expressed the same opinion."
"The President was expressing his opinion on his favored medium for asserting his First Amendment right of free speech," Giuliani added. "He said 'should' not 'must' and no Presidential order was issued or will be."
Giuliani also spoke with Fox News' Howard Kurt:
Turns out, however, that Giuliani is neither the President of the United States nor are any members of his historic presidential campaign (remember that?) currently under indictment due to the investigative reach of the Special Counsel's office.
The bigger question, however, is whether or not his legal team's rapid-response media performance is enough to put the possible obstruction of justice offense by the president back in the bottle.
In a Twitter thread explaining the gravity of Trump's demand, Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), indicated that might not be so easily done.
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With legal experts already warning that a tweet from President Donald Trump earlier in the day calling on Attorney Jeff Sessions to end the Mueller probe "right now" could constitute a direct and very public act of obstruction of justice, the president's personal legal team jumped into action in what appeared like an effort to save their client's ass.
According to the Washington Post, who received comment from both Jay Sekulow and Rudy Giuliani, the pair of Trump's personal attorneys were quickly trying to put out the fire by saying that what Trump said was not an "explicit command" or an official presidential order.
"He carefully used the word, 'should,'" Giuliani told the Post. And Sekulow reportedly added: "The president has issued no order or direction to the Department of Justice on this."
The president's team also issued a statement to ABC News. "We have been saying for months that it is time to bring this inquiry to an end," Giuliani declared. "The President has expressed the same opinion."
"The President was expressing his opinion on his favored medium for asserting his First Amendment right of free speech," Giuliani added. "He said 'should' not 'must' and no Presidential order was issued or will be."
Giuliani also spoke with Fox News' Howard Kurt:
Turns out, however, that Giuliani is neither the President of the United States nor are any members of his historic presidential campaign (remember that?) currently under indictment due to the investigative reach of the Special Counsel's office.
The bigger question, however, is whether or not his legal team's rapid-response media performance is enough to put the possible obstruction of justice offense by the president back in the bottle.
In a Twitter thread explaining the gravity of Trump's demand, Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), indicated that might not be so easily done.
With legal experts already warning that a tweet from President Donald Trump earlier in the day calling on Attorney Jeff Sessions to end the Mueller probe "right now" could constitute a direct and very public act of obstruction of justice, the president's personal legal team jumped into action in what appeared like an effort to save their client's ass.
According to the Washington Post, who received comment from both Jay Sekulow and Rudy Giuliani, the pair of Trump's personal attorneys were quickly trying to put out the fire by saying that what Trump said was not an "explicit command" or an official presidential order.
"He carefully used the word, 'should,'" Giuliani told the Post. And Sekulow reportedly added: "The president has issued no order or direction to the Department of Justice on this."
The president's team also issued a statement to ABC News. "We have been saying for months that it is time to bring this inquiry to an end," Giuliani declared. "The President has expressed the same opinion."
"The President was expressing his opinion on his favored medium for asserting his First Amendment right of free speech," Giuliani added. "He said 'should' not 'must' and no Presidential order was issued or will be."
Giuliani also spoke with Fox News' Howard Kurt:
Turns out, however, that Giuliani is neither the President of the United States nor are any members of his historic presidential campaign (remember that?) currently under indictment due to the investigative reach of the Special Counsel's office.
The bigger question, however, is whether or not his legal team's rapid-response media performance is enough to put the possible obstruction of justice offense by the president back in the bottle.
In a Twitter thread explaining the gravity of Trump's demand, Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), indicated that might not be so easily done.
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