Giuliani traveling to Ukraine to push for probes that could be 'very helpful' to Trump

The Hill ^ | 05/09/19 | Rachel Frazin

[yesthatjallen]

President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani says he plans to travel to Ukraine in the coming days in an attempt to push for investigations that he says could benefit Trump.

Giuliani told The New York Times in a Thursday interview that he plans to ask the country's president-elect to look into the origin of the federal Russia probe as well as former Vice President Joe Biden's past influence on the country.

"We’re not meddling in an election, we’re meddling in an investigation, which we have a right to do,” the Trump lawyer asserted.

“There’s nothing illegal about it,” he added. “Somebody could say it’s improper. And this isn’t foreign policy — I’m asking them to do an investigation that they’re doing already and that other people are telling them to stop. And I’m going to give them reasons why they shouldn’t stop it because that information will be very, very helpful to my client, and may turn out to be helpful to my government.”

The Times reported that the meeting's goal is to try to undermine the credibility of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe as well as the case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Trump's allies are also reportedly seeking information that could hurt Biden, who has led recent polls for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

Such inquiries were previously launched by the administration of current Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who lost a recent reelection bid to political newcomer Volodymyr Zelensky. The new Ukrainian president will take office June 3.

Giuliani last week called for an investigation into Biden for his previous actions in Ukraine after a New York Times report on the former vice president's dealings with the country.

In 2016, Biden reportedly threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees unless the country removed a top prosecutor, who was later voted out. Biden’s younger son, Hunter, was a board member of an energy company that the prosecutor had been looking into, according to the newspaper.

Giulani's trip comes after Mueller earlier this year concluded his probe into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Mueller did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with Russia, though detailed extensive contacts between Trump associates and Russian figures.

Democrats are pushing for an unredacted version of the Mueller report, over which Trump has exerted executive privilege. The House Judiciary Committee voted this week to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over Mueller's unredacted report and the underlying evidence.

[little jeremiah]

Oh, you’re in the “poor bumbling Trump, misled by bad advisors who are actually tricksters steering him wrong and he doesn’t even know it, poor foolish helpless toddler Trump”.

Somehow he manages a huge business empire for decades without being duped by tricksters.

[precisionshootist]

Well Rudy has canceled the trip to the Ukraine so again I was pretty much on the mark when I said this was a waste. I really like RG but I don’t think he is helping the President very much. I’m kinda surprised but it appears RG is in over his head. Something tells me his days with the administration are limited.

Bottom line this ukraine thing was a bad idea. What needs to happen is prosecution. Stunts like this are not a threat to the deep state, prison time is the biggest threat as those charged will start throwing others under the bus.

[little jeremiah]

I read your first sentence. I guess you don’t know that a bunch of Ukranians are coming to the US and may have already, to testify about this and other matters.

So, you are not up to speed and thus way off the mark.

I don’t know where people are getting their “news” nowadays.

[precisionshootist]

You need to look at this thread

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3748549/posts

This trip was cancelled because it was a dunderhead stunt. Ruby sounded like a buffoon last night on Fox trying to explain why he changed his mind and is not going.

Read the posts in the thread above and you will find out many people see this as a dumb stunt just as I do. You probably think this was a ruse, a setup, a 3d chess deep thinking plan. It wasn't. Politics is never a 3d chess game, it's a WYSIWYG, Occam's Razor, third grade recess.

Did you think Jeff Sessions was secretly working behind the scenes and any minute was going to spring the trap when he appeared to be a useless tool? Guess what? He was a useless tool and the Ukraine trip was a major screw up, just as it appears.

[little jeremiah]

None so blind as he who doesn’t want to see (because he thinks he knows).

[precisionshootist]

" I read your first sentence. I guess you don’t know that a bunch of Ukranians are coming to the US and may have already, to testify about this and other matters. So, you are not up to speed and thus way off the mark. I don’t know where people are getting their “news” nowadays. "

Funny RG never mentioned this as part of the reason he is not going. So the question is where are you getting your news? Can you post recent links about Ukranians testifying? What panel are they testifying?

I watched the interview with RG on fox again and seeing it the second time I can say this stunt was a disaster. Nothing looks creepier and more suspicious than a Presidents attorney traveling to a foreign nation to get info on his political adversaries. This was a colossal blunder.

[little jeremiah]

I don’t watch or read mainstream “news”.

I think that is the problem here. I read days ago in a few places about Ukranians wanting to come here to testify. I probably don’t have time to find it and report back, you can try searches. I don’t think it made it to FR.

[little jeremiah]

Haven’t found the sources for Ukies actually coming to the US, read it a very few days ago. Below are links to general Ukraine/DNC involvement, from March and April. If I find the Ukes coming to the US info, I’ll post it.

Ukrainian Embassy confirms DNC contractor solicited Trump dirt in 2016
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/441892-ukrainian-embassy-confirms-dnc-contractor-solicited-trump-dirt-in-2016

John Solomon: As Russia Collusion Fades, Ukrainian Plot To Help Clinton Emerges
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/03/21/john_solomon_as_russia_collusion_fades_ukrainian_plot_to_help_clinton_emerges.html

Ties to Ukrainian National a Unifying Theme in Early Attacks on Trump
https://www.theepochtimes.com/ties-to-ukrainian-national-a-unifying-theme-in-early-attacks-on-trump_2872609.html

Ukrainian to US prosecutors: Why don’t you want our evidence on Democrats?
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/437719-ukrainian-to-us-prosecutors-why-dont-you-want-our-evidence-on-democrats

[precisionshootist]

Ya I could not find anything yet anyway. If you have not seen the clip check out Rudy on fox. It was akward to say the least. He has definitely lost his edge for TV interviews. The real question to me is Barr. Is he the real deal or not? I go back and forth on it myself. What is really telling to me is the dems floating this “Trump won’t leave office if he loses”. What they are doing is trying to set up Trump so that no one will ask questions when they rig the election with even more fraud then the last one. We need indictments and soon.