Rudy Giuliani made two accidental phone calls to NBC reporters while discussing his need for cash and bashing former Vice President Joe Biden.
Late last Wednesday, Giuliani, 75, left a three-minute voicemail on the phone of NBC reporter Rich Schapiro. In the phone call, Giuliani was heard speaking to another person about money needed to address a problem in Turkey.
Tensions between the United States and Turkey have been high since American soldiers left northern Syria and Turkish troops moved in, attacking Kurdish soldiers in the process. The NBC reporter noted that Giuliani appeared to be speaking about one of his former clients, Robert Mangas, a lawyer at the firm Greenberg Traurig LLP and registered agent of the Turkish government.
Giuliani was heard asking, “Is Robert around?”
The other man heard on the call claimed Mangas was in Turkey. However, a spokesperson for Greenberg Traurig, where Giuliani himself was employed until 2018, indicated that Mangas had not been to Turkey since 2013, saying, “Mr. Mangas has not spoken to Mr. Giuliani since before he left Greenberg Traurig in May 2018.”
“The problem is we need some money,” Giuliani said, adding, “We need a few hundred thousand.”
The other man on the line offered options on how to handle the situation, to which Giuliani replied, “Yeah, give me options.”
The remaining context of the conversation was unclear, as much of it was inaudible and the voicemail recording was limited to just three minutes.
Accidental phone calls are a recurring problem for Giuliani, who called Schapiro a few weeks prior, again leaving a three-minute voicemail. In that voicemail, Giuliani is believed to be discussing Biden.
“I expected it would happen,” Giuliani was heard saying. “The minute you touch on one of the protected people, they go crazy. They come after you.”
Another person in the room was recorded saying, “You got the truth on your side.”
“It’s very powerful,” Giuliani responded. He continued to elaborate on the Biden investigation, calling it “sad” and claiming Biden has been allowing his family to profit off his name for years.
“There’s plenty more to come out. He did the same thing in China. And he tried to do it in Kazakhstan and in Russia,” he said, adding, “It’s a sad situation. You know how they get? Biden has been trading in on his public office since he was a senator.”
He also bashed Biden’s son Hunter, pointing out that the vice president’s son has battled with addiction problems.
“When he became vice president, the kid decided to go around the world and say, ‘Hire me because I’m Joe Biden’s son.’ And most people wouldn’t hire him because he had a drug problem,” Giuliani was heard saying.
Giuliani claimed that Hunter Biden had made “somewhere between 5 and 8 million” and alleged that $3 million had been “laundered.” He explained to the other people on the voicemail that former Secretary of State John Kerry’s stepson worked for the same company Hunter Biden was hired by.
“His partner was John Kerry’s stepson. Secretary of state and the vice president for the price of one,” Giuliani said.
At the end of the voicemail, Giuliani claimed that no one would investigate the Biden family so he hoped the situation would “force them” to investigate Hunter’s business arrangements.
Giuliani is the president’s personal attorney. He is also under investigation for his conversations with Ukrainian leaders.
