The seemingly unintentional calls made to the NBC reporters occurred at two different times, one early this month during the mid-afternoon and a more recent call late at night earlier this week. (Photo: Screenshot/ABC News)
Oct 25, 2019
A pair of butt-dials by President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani set off a hilarious cascade of headlines and social media reactions on Friday after NBC News reporter Rich Schapiro recounted two voicemails discovered on his cell phone that included Giuliani apparently complaining about Joe and Hunter Biden, his need for cash, and the subject of Ukraine.
Among the things Giuliani can be clearly heard saying on the call is, "The problem is we need some money."
The seemingly unintentional calls made to Shapiro occurred at two different times, the first on Sept. 28 during the mid-afternoon and a more recent one on October 16 after Schapiro had gone to bed for the night. In both cases, Schapiro later learned that the missed calls were sent to his voicemail--which has a 3-minute limit--and each resulted in a recording of Giuliani speaking to other people while being unaware the portion of the conversation was being recorded.
\u201c@NBCNews The recording ends the same way it began. \n\n\u201cThey don\u2019t want to investigate because he\u2019s protected, so we gotta force them to do it,\u201d Giuliani says, before apparently turning to the president\u2019s now-infamous call with the Ukrainian president. https://t.co/GACS7ZY7xY\u201d— NBC Politics (@NBC Politics) 1572030465
In the more recent of the two calls, Schapiro reports,
Giuliani can be heard discussing overseas dealings and lamenting the need for cash, though it's difficult to discern the full context of the conversation.
The call appeared to be one of the most unfortunate of faux pas: what is known, in casual parlance, as a butt dial.
And it wasn't the first time it had happened.
"You know," Giuliani says at the start of the recording. "Charles would have a hard time with a fraud case 'cause he didn't do any due diligence."
It wasn't clear who Charles is, or who may have been implicated in a fraud. In fact, much of the message's first minute is difficult to comprehend, in part because the voice of the other man in the conversation is muffled and barely intelligible.
But then Giuliani says something that's crystal clear.
"Let's get back to business."
He goes on.
"I gotta get you to get on Bahrain."
Listen to the calls here.
"I will not give it any credence," Giuliani told Common Dreams when asked for comment on the contents of the voicemails.
Given the partial nature of what is heard in the voicemails, it is hard to believe that anything said would represent anything particularly damaging to Giuliani or his boss, the U.S. president. Still, the episode exemplifies the kind of oddity that has come to be associated with Giuliani even as Trump faces intensifying and serious legal scrutiny over his effort to get the Ukraine government to dig up dirt on one of his top 2020 Democratic rivals.
It was inevitable that the #ButtDialGate, or whatever name results from the voicemail scandal, generated a mid-afternoon onslaught of comic social media reactions--some funnier than others:
\u201ci don't know why this is so funny to me but i cannot stop laughing\u201d— Ashley Feinberg (@Ashley Feinberg) 1572029816
\u201cRudy Giuliani butt-dials NBC reporter, heard discussing need for cash and trashing Bidens >> I\u2019ve said it before and I will say it again, maybe the only thing standing between this country and fullblown fascism is the sheer incompetence of Team Trump. https://t.co/pPtAk0HhQd\u201d— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1572031600
\u201cWho had "Rudy Butt Dial" on their end of the republic bingo card?\u201d— Ciara Torres-Spelliscy (@Ciara Torres-Spelliscy) 1572030572
\u201cRudy, you can butt dial me if you\u2019d like\u201d— Sam Stein (@Sam Stein) 1572029911
And the kicker goes to...
\u201cwhat if rudy's phone was in his front pocket though\u201d— Ashley Feinberg (@Ashley Feinberg) 1572031128
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A pair of butt-dials by President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani set off a hilarious cascade of headlines and social media reactions on Friday after NBC News reporter Rich Schapiro recounted two voicemails discovered on his cell phone that included Giuliani apparently complaining about Joe and Hunter Biden, his need for cash, and the subject of Ukraine.
Among the things Giuliani can be clearly heard saying on the call is, "The problem is we need some money."
The seemingly unintentional calls made to Shapiro occurred at two different times, the first on Sept. 28 during the mid-afternoon and a more recent one on October 16 after Schapiro had gone to bed for the night. In both cases, Schapiro later learned that the missed calls were sent to his voicemail--which has a 3-minute limit--and each resulted in a recording of Giuliani speaking to other people while being unaware the portion of the conversation was being recorded.
\u201c@NBCNews The recording ends the same way it began. \n\n\u201cThey don\u2019t want to investigate because he\u2019s protected, so we gotta force them to do it,\u201d Giuliani says, before apparently turning to the president\u2019s now-infamous call with the Ukrainian president. https://t.co/GACS7ZY7xY\u201d— NBC Politics (@NBC Politics) 1572030465
In the more recent of the two calls, Schapiro reports,
Giuliani can be heard discussing overseas dealings and lamenting the need for cash, though it's difficult to discern the full context of the conversation.
The call appeared to be one of the most unfortunate of faux pas: what is known, in casual parlance, as a butt dial.
And it wasn't the first time it had happened.
"You know," Giuliani says at the start of the recording. "Charles would have a hard time with a fraud case 'cause he didn't do any due diligence."
It wasn't clear who Charles is, or who may have been implicated in a fraud. In fact, much of the message's first minute is difficult to comprehend, in part because the voice of the other man in the conversation is muffled and barely intelligible.
But then Giuliani says something that's crystal clear.
"Let's get back to business."
He goes on.
"I gotta get you to get on Bahrain."
Listen to the calls here.
"I will not give it any credence," Giuliani told Common Dreams when asked for comment on the contents of the voicemails.
Given the partial nature of what is heard in the voicemails, it is hard to believe that anything said would represent anything particularly damaging to Giuliani or his boss, the U.S. president. Still, the episode exemplifies the kind of oddity that has come to be associated with Giuliani even as Trump faces intensifying and serious legal scrutiny over his effort to get the Ukraine government to dig up dirt on one of his top 2020 Democratic rivals.
It was inevitable that the #ButtDialGate, or whatever name results from the voicemail scandal, generated a mid-afternoon onslaught of comic social media reactions--some funnier than others:
\u201ci don't know why this is so funny to me but i cannot stop laughing\u201d— Ashley Feinberg (@Ashley Feinberg) 1572029816
\u201cRudy Giuliani butt-dials NBC reporter, heard discussing need for cash and trashing Bidens >> I\u2019ve said it before and I will say it again, maybe the only thing standing between this country and fullblown fascism is the sheer incompetence of Team Trump. https://t.co/pPtAk0HhQd\u201d— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1572031600
\u201cWho had "Rudy Butt Dial" on their end of the republic bingo card?\u201d— Ciara Torres-Spelliscy (@Ciara Torres-Spelliscy) 1572030572
\u201cRudy, you can butt dial me if you\u2019d like\u201d— Sam Stein (@Sam Stein) 1572029911
And the kicker goes to...
\u201cwhat if rudy's phone was in his front pocket though\u201d— Ashley Feinberg (@Ashley Feinberg) 1572031128
A pair of butt-dials by President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani set off a hilarious cascade of headlines and social media reactions on Friday after NBC News reporter Rich Schapiro recounted two voicemails discovered on his cell phone that included Giuliani apparently complaining about Joe and Hunter Biden, his need for cash, and the subject of Ukraine.
Among the things Giuliani can be clearly heard saying on the call is, "The problem is we need some money."
The seemingly unintentional calls made to Shapiro occurred at two different times, the first on Sept. 28 during the mid-afternoon and a more recent one on October 16 after Schapiro had gone to bed for the night. In both cases, Schapiro later learned that the missed calls were sent to his voicemail--which has a 3-minute limit--and each resulted in a recording of Giuliani speaking to other people while being unaware the portion of the conversation was being recorded.
\u201c@NBCNews The recording ends the same way it began. \n\n\u201cThey don\u2019t want to investigate because he\u2019s protected, so we gotta force them to do it,\u201d Giuliani says, before apparently turning to the president\u2019s now-infamous call with the Ukrainian president. https://t.co/GACS7ZY7xY\u201d— NBC Politics (@NBC Politics) 1572030465
In the more recent of the two calls, Schapiro reports,
Giuliani can be heard discussing overseas dealings and lamenting the need for cash, though it's difficult to discern the full context of the conversation.
The call appeared to be one of the most unfortunate of faux pas: what is known, in casual parlance, as a butt dial.
And it wasn't the first time it had happened.
"You know," Giuliani says at the start of the recording. "Charles would have a hard time with a fraud case 'cause he didn't do any due diligence."
It wasn't clear who Charles is, or who may have been implicated in a fraud. In fact, much of the message's first minute is difficult to comprehend, in part because the voice of the other man in the conversation is muffled and barely intelligible.
But then Giuliani says something that's crystal clear.
"Let's get back to business."
He goes on.
"I gotta get you to get on Bahrain."
Listen to the calls here.
"I will not give it any credence," Giuliani told Common Dreams when asked for comment on the contents of the voicemails.
Given the partial nature of what is heard in the voicemails, it is hard to believe that anything said would represent anything particularly damaging to Giuliani or his boss, the U.S. president. Still, the episode exemplifies the kind of oddity that has come to be associated with Giuliani even as Trump faces intensifying and serious legal scrutiny over his effort to get the Ukraine government to dig up dirt on one of his top 2020 Democratic rivals.
It was inevitable that the #ButtDialGate, or whatever name results from the voicemail scandal, generated a mid-afternoon onslaught of comic social media reactions--some funnier than others:
\u201ci don't know why this is so funny to me but i cannot stop laughing\u201d— Ashley Feinberg (@Ashley Feinberg) 1572029816
\u201cRudy Giuliani butt-dials NBC reporter, heard discussing need for cash and trashing Bidens >> I\u2019ve said it before and I will say it again, maybe the only thing standing between this country and fullblown fascism is the sheer incompetence of Team Trump. https://t.co/pPtAk0HhQd\u201d— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1572031600
\u201cWho had "Rudy Butt Dial" on their end of the republic bingo card?\u201d— Ciara Torres-Spelliscy (@Ciara Torres-Spelliscy) 1572030572
\u201cRudy, you can butt dial me if you\u2019d like\u201d— Sam Stein (@Sam Stein) 1572029911
And the kicker goes to...
\u201cwhat if rudy's phone was in his front pocket though\u201d— Ashley Feinberg (@Ashley Feinberg) 1572031128
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