Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s lawyer, encouraged special counsel Robert Mueller to issue his report on allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and obstruction of justice, and said when it exonerates President Trump, they will admit Mueller was fair.
“Just a few days before 60 day run-up to 2018 elections. If Mueller wants to show he’s not partisan, then issue a report on collusion and obstruction,” Giuliani tweeted. “They will show President Trump did nothing wrong. Then we will have to admit you were fair. And we will.”
[Rudy Giuliani to Robert Mueller: ‘Put up or shut up. What do you got?’]
Just a few days before 60 day run-up to 2018 elections. If Mueller wants to show he’s not partisan, then issue a report on collusion and obstruction. They will show President Trump did nothing wrong. Then we will have to admit you were fair. And we will.
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) August 25, 2018
Trump frequently derides the special counsel’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, calling it a “witch hunt” run by “angry Democrats.”
He has also accused Mueller in May of “meddling” in the upcoming midterm elections.
Giuliani has been calling for Mueller to wrap up his probe since at least May, when he told reporters the special counsel would be “doing a Comey,” a reference to former FBI Director Jim Comey, if he didn’t file his report by September.
This month, Giuliani told Fox News it would be a “very, very serious violation” of Justice Department rules if the probe wasn’t completed by September.
The president’s lawyer said Mueller “shouldn’t be conducting one of these investigations in the 60-day period.”
“The 60-Day Rule is not written or described in any Department policy or regulation. Nevertheless, high-ranking Department and FBI officials acknowledged the existence of a general practice that informs Department decisions,” the recent report from the Justice Department’s internal watchdog on the 2016 election stated.
But Mueller and his team notched a victory Tuesday when a jury convicted Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, on eight counts of tax and bank fraud. A mistrial was declared on the remaining 10 counts.
Members of Mueller’s team prosecuted Manafort, and it was believed a guilty verdict would provide momentum for the special counsel’s probe.
Another close associate of Trump’s, his former lawyer Michael Cohen, also was in court this week, pleading guilty to eight counts, including two campaign finance charges.
The campaign finance violations relate to two hush-money payments Cohen made to two women who alleged having had extramarital affairs with Trump. Cohen said he made the payments at the direction of Trump.
Mueller’s team referred the case involving Cohen to federal prosecutors in New York earlier this year.
