Donald Trump stiffs Rudy Giuliani

Don't act surprised.

(Rudy and the former president)

CNN has new reporting that suggest that Donald Trump is effectively cutting loose his one-time attack dog and lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Here’s the key bit:

With his attorney in tow, Rudy Giuliani traveled to Mar-a-Lago in recent months on a mission to make a personal and desperate appeal to former President Donald Trump to pay his legal bills. By going in person, a source familiar with the matter told CNN, Giuliani and his lawyer Robert Costello believed they could explain face-to-face why Trump needed to assist his former attorney with his ballooning legal bills…

…But the former president, who is notoriously strict about dipping into his own coffers, didn’t seem very interested. After Costello made his pitch, Trump verbally agreed to help with some of Giuliani’s legal bills without committing to any specific amount or timeline.

If you’ve been paying attention to Trump — and the way he works — this shouldn’t surprise you at all.

For Trump, loyalty is a one-way street. He expects utter and complete fealty from you. But, when you need him? Meh — if it makes sense for him to help he will. Otherwise, you’re on your own. (More on that in a minute.)

That views extends even to Giuliani who has, inarguably, put himself in massive legal jeopardy for Trump.

He is currently being sued by Smartmatic, which is seeking damages from allegations made by the former New York City Mayor that the company somehow rigged the 2020 election. (Smartmatic is an electronic voting system company.)

And, just this week, Giuliani was charged along with Trump and 17 other co-conspirators for their alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

These legal entanglements are the direct result of Giuliani’s role in the 2020 election in which he became the public face of Trump’s attempts to overturn the results. As laid out by special counsel Jack Smith — in his indictment of Trump for his role in that overturning effort — Giuliani is a willing lackey, doing whatever Trump asks of him often without explanation or questioning.

(Sidebar: Why has Giuliani — once one of the most popular and best known figures in American politics around the turn of the century been reduced to lackey status? My sense is that he is a relevance and attention hound — desperate to matter and be in the mix. Trump put him in a position — lead lawyer — that allowed Giuliani to constantly be on TV and in the public eye. And Giuliani loved every minute of it — right up until it got him into deep, deep legal doo doo.)

The true intrigue in this CNN story is where it came from — and why.

To me (and, to be clear, despite the fact I used to work there, I know nothing of CNN’s sourcing), the story has Giuliani’s fingerprints all over it. (Or if not Giuliani himself then his team.)

The essential takeaway from the story is this: Trump doesn’t want to help Giuliani out but he may have to — or else.

This background quote is telling:

“It’s not a smart idea” for Trump to refuse to pay Giuliani’s legal fees, one person close to the situation told CNN, referencing how Trump’s relationship with Michael Cohen famously deteriorated while he was investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller.

In essence, what that quote is saying is that Giuliani knows a whole lot about what Trump said and did around the 2020 election and in the lead-up to January 6, 2021. Be a real shame if he had to cut a deal with the Georgia prosecutors and tell them all of the dirty details….

(We know, it’s worth noting here, that Giuliani did talk to Jack Smith about his 2020 election probe. “The appearance was entirely voluntary and conducted in a professional manner,” a lawyer for Giuliani told CNN earlier this summer about the interview.)

The way this latest CNN story read — to me — was this:

1. Giuliani tried the nice way to get Donald Trump to pay for his legal bills. He went to him in person and asked — and it didn’t work.

2. Giuliani knows where a lot of the bodies are buried in Trump world and if he decides to sing, it could get much, much worse for the former president

3. Why not, given #2, pay up?

Yes, if you are wondering, this feels a lot like bribery. With this story, Giuliani is, in no uncertain terms, threatening Trump; You know what I know…and you don’t want everyone to know it. Do you?

Which is a bit unsavory! Maybe more than a bit!

But, the truth is that hardball is really a) the only language Trump understands and b) the surest way to get him to respect you — or at least pay attention to you.

Giuliani, it seems to me, would only resort to this sort of tactic if he was desperate. From everything we know about his finances (which, admittedly, is limited) that is an accurate depiction of where is at the moment.

This CNN story puts the ball firmly in Trump’s court. He has a two basic options:

1. Throw Giuliani some money to ensure his silence and loyalty

2. Call Giuliani’s bluff, daring him to turn on Trump and tell what he knows.

Option #1 seems safer. (Trump is, after all, a billionaire and can probably spare it.) But, the former president is also a bit of a gambler — and likes taking risks. And maybe he thinks that nothing — not even what Giuliani knows — can hurt him now. (Trump has seemed to gain strength, politically speaking, as legal problems have mounted.)

Yes, this is ugly stuff. But it’s standard operating procedure in Trumpworld.