Rudy Giuliani denied any involvement in an alleged scheme seeking cash in exchange for presidential pardons.
Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and President Trump’s personal lawyer, tweeted on Monday what appeared to be a response to a New York Times report that said an associate of his told a former CIA official, John Kiriakou, that a pardon could be arranged for a large sum of money. Kiriakou, who in 2012 was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to identifying a CIA officer who waterboarded a suspect, said the associate told him “it’s going to cost $2 million — [Giuliani is] going to want two million bucks” during a meeting in Washington, D.C., last year.
“The claims that I asked for, or received, any compensation for a pardon for myself or anyone else is false, defamatory, and malicious,” Giuliani said in his tweet.
The claims that I asked for, or received, any compensation for a pardon for myself or anyone else is false, defamatory, and malicious.
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) January 18, 2021
The former CIA operative reportedly sought a pardon so he could access his pension and regain his right to carry a firearm. Additionally, one of Kiriakou’s friends tipped off the FBI about the meeting where the alleged monetary negotiations occurred.
Giuliani disputed the outlet’s account of the meeting in the report, and he insisted that aiding a pardon request would be a conflict of interest.
The report also said other people in Trump’s orbit, including the president’s former lawyer John Dowd and former campaign official Karen Giorno, had accepted thousands in cash gifts in exchange for pardons.
Trump is expected to issue roughly 100 pardons before he departs the Oval Office on Wednesday, according to a CNN report, which cited sources familiar with the matter.
