Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s most prominent personal lawyer, on Monday sought to clarify his assertion that “truth isn’t truth” after he was criticized for using that phrase to explain why the president risked falling into a possible “perjury” trap if he were interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller.
“My statement was not meant as a pontification on moral theology but one referring to the situation where two people make precisely contradictory statements, the classic ‘he said, she said’ puzzle,” Giuliani wrote on Twitter Monday. “Sometimes further inquiry can reveal the truth other times it doesn’t.”
My statement was not meant as a pontification on moral theology but one referring to the situation where two people make precisely contradictory statements, the classic “he said,she said” puzzle. Sometimes further inquiry can reveal the truth other times it doesn’t.
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) August 20, 2018
Giuliani made the initial remark during a Sunday morning appearance on NBC News.
“When you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he’s going to tell the truth and he shouldn’t worry, well that’s so silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth. Not the truth,” Giuliani said during the interview, referring to Trump.
When the host told him that “truth is truth,” Giuliani replied, “No, it isn’t truth. Truth isn’t truth.”
The exchange provoked a sharp reaction from critics leery of Trump associates’ efforts to defend the president, from veteran journalist Dan Rather to comedian John Oliver on his late night HBO show, “Last Week Tonight.”
[More: James Comey reacts to Rudy Giuliani: ‘Trust exists and truth matters’]
“Truth isn’t Truth” – It is as if Rudy Giuliani revels in writing the book titles for the historians of the future who will have to try to make sense of this President and all that is transpiring under his Administration.
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) August 19, 2018
.@iamjohnoliver: “What is Giuliani doing, and why does the White House keep letting him go on TV? Because at this rate, Trump is going to wind up behind bars with Giuliani visiting him and saying, ‘Don’t worry, Donald, prison isn’t prison'” https://t.co/0njsurLPDM
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 20, 2018
Conservative political pundits, including Mark Levin, said the backlash was overblown.
And, of course, the leftist media rip out the context of Giuliani’s comments today to advance their own narrative. https://t.co/icu7mN8KGY
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 19, 2018
Trump’s outside legal counsel are in protracted negotiations with Mueller’s team over whether they will have the chance to interview the president before they conclude their federal probe into possible collusion between the Trump 2016 campaign and Russia, and whether Trump obstructed justice by firing former FBI Director James Comey amid the bureau’s inquiry into related matters.
