It is amazing how "America's Mayor" has become not much more than a lying buffoon. Nevertheless, having a hard time finding it in me to feel 'sad' for him.
I sense Trump is going to take the gamble, unless Rudi has strong corroborating evidence - Giuliani's word alone no longer has much value, with all of the lying he has been doing under oath, in front of cameras, etc., for the past six plus years. I believe Trump will count on him to be a worthless witness against him.
Finally, Trump's sense of accountability is accountability applies to everyone else, and never himself. Expect Trump to pin everything on Giuliani, making him accountable for the plot, and the ring leader - Trump was just taking advice from his attorney.
Listening to a number of lawyers over the last few days on news programs and podcasts they think Rudy would probably not become a Prosecution witness.
Reason?
His Trump allegiance and outrageous behavior post 2020 election has destroyed any credibility he might have had when he wore the sobriquet of "America's Mayor."
Furthermore, his legal antics in the current his defense in the civil suit in Atlanta being sued by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss are absolutely outrageous.
What a bummer for Rudy...
...kicked to the curb by the Defendant-In-Chief and
I am sure that we are all shocked -- shocked, I tell you -- that all of this occurred and is undoubtedly true. Who among us could fathom the word "unsavory" being applied to Trump and Rudy. Pardon my sarcasm. Once again, we see that everyone who touches Trump invites personal disaster.
ha ha - word for word, you plagiarized my reply before i had a chance to even type it out. 😎 however, i was going to reply:"shocked, i say" but your reply is close enough.
First, I strongly question whether Trump is worth what people think. He may have a billion in assets but he seems to be very cash poor. He can barely pay his own legal bills (he seems overly reliant on fundraised money).
Second, Trump seems very confident he doesn’t need anyone (except the Mar-a-Lago staff) in his efforts. He has never been held accountable and why should that confidence waiver now? He will happily throw Rudy under the bus and he already has a list of nicknames for him.
The problem is that being a billionaire is meaningless if your assets are non-liquid. Billionaires (like Musk) borrow the money to live on, and then frequently don't pay it back. Banks keep lending to them, because there are other services that are very profitable for the banks, so that subsidizes the loss of loaning money to billionaires for their living expenses and writing it off when the loans are defaulted on.
While I do think Trump is a billionaire, I also think he won’t part with his money. Why would he? He has his supporters sending him money as he plays victim in chief. He fundraisers like crazy and his supporters fall for the scheme. Every. Single. Time. He has a long history of not paying legal bills and not paying people that do work for him. This is his M.O. Am I surprised he seems to be kicking Rudy to the curb? Not at all. I do believe that I have read that Rudy was always a scoundrel but 9/11 put him at the heart of the egregious attacks on our country. He managed to lead us through those horrible days. Suddenly he was America’s mayor. Yet, Rudy didn’t change who he was and he continues to be a scoundrel. Is it in Trumps best interest to pay Rudy and perhaps shut him up? Of course, but we know he won’t. Michael Cohen asked for help and didn’t get it but found that testifying against Trump, Cohen was labeled a liar and can’t be trusted. Trump is a NYC gutter rat and none of this is surprising.
Also worth noting Elaine that aside from an initial investment of his own money in the 2016 campaign,. he has never dipped into his personal coffers to fund his races.
I am not the least bit surprised that it has come to this for Giuliani. I would hope that all the other sycophants pay attention to how he treats people in his orbit.
I also hope GOP voters do the same and see him for the sham he really is!
Judi, what amazes me is that Trump has ALWAYS treated people in his orbit this way! This is the rule, not the exception! And yet, people keep limning up to work for/with him.
It seems like to me that Rudy is in big trouble with or without a cash infusion to pay his legal bills.
Also, if Trump is using his followers’ money to pay for lawyers for Rudy, doesn’t it mean there would be strings attached? If the lawyer was truly representing him, and not Trump, the advice would surely be to flip as much as possible.
Lucky for Rudy he’s likely to have a roof over his head and not be homeless after Dominion, Smartmatic, Noelle Dunphy, Ruby Freeman, Shaye Moss and anyone else with a suit against him take every dime he’s got. I’m looking forward to him being represented by a public defender.
Kevin, I do think Rudy's money problems are real. How real? Hard to say since he is so non transparent about it. But he's got a lot of lawyers and legal bills piling up.
I always assume that Ghooly Auntie would need to threaten to rat on Trump in order to get Trump to pay him. Trump pays no one of his own free volition.
Okay, we may have some trials coming up. I have a question for you smart people out there: how are we going to find 12 jurors that can reach a unanimous decision with regards to the fat orange one. Does it have to be unanimous? Because you just know that some jurors will say anything to get on this trial.
Typically, jurors will say anything to avoid jury duty. I may be a naive optimist, but I do believe the jury selection process wii root out the MAGAts.
The best , albeit weak, defense Trump has is that he relied on the advice of counsel re the false elector scheme , etc. He should keep Rudy in the tent. But Trump has shown repeatedly that sound judgments are not his thing
Yeah that's the thing. He repeatedly does stuff that is demonstrably in his best interests. Which makes me think the strategy is that there no strategy at all.
It is amazing how "America's Mayor" has become not much more than a lying buffoon. Nevertheless, having a hard time finding it in me to feel 'sad' for him.
I sense Trump is going to take the gamble, unless Rudi has strong corroborating evidence - Giuliani's word alone no longer has much value, with all of the lying he has been doing under oath, in front of cameras, etc., for the past six plus years. I believe Trump will count on him to be a worthless witness against him.
Finally, Trump's sense of accountability is accountability applies to everyone else, and never himself. Expect Trump to pin everything on Giuliani, making him accountable for the plot, and the ring leader - Trump was just taking advice from his attorney.
Mike, I could totally see this happening.
Listening to a number of lawyers over the last few days on news programs and podcasts they think Rudy would probably not become a Prosecution witness.
Reason?
His Trump allegiance and outrageous behavior post 2020 election has destroyed any credibility he might have had when he wore the sobriquet of "America's Mayor."
Furthermore, his legal antics in the current his defense in the civil suit in Atlanta being sued by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss are absolutely outrageous.
What a bummer for Rudy...
...kicked to the curb by the Defendant-In-Chief and
spurned by the Atlanta prosecutors.
That is a really interesting perspective. Him flipping isn't worth it for the prosecutors!
The former prosecutors offering their experiences said that witnesses can't be as heinous/crazed as the defendent.
The Trump defense lawyers will attempt to undermine Rudy by showing pictures of his "Ghouliani Look" and "Hair-Dye Trail"
I am sure that we are all shocked -- shocked, I tell you -- that all of this occurred and is undoubtedly true. Who among us could fathom the word "unsavory" being applied to Trump and Rudy. Pardon my sarcasm. Once again, we see that everyone who touches Trump invites personal disaster.
ha ha - word for word, you plagiarized my reply before i had a chance to even type it out. 😎 however, i was going to reply:"shocked, i say" but your reply is close enough.
It is remarkable the people he attracts to him. Not the best and brightest.
But Chris! He knows the best people, the best words, he has the biggest brain. He can get everything fixed one day one!
Chris -- two thoughts here:
First, I strongly question whether Trump is worth what people think. He may have a billion in assets but he seems to be very cash poor. He can barely pay his own legal bills (he seems overly reliant on fundraised money).
Second, Trump seems very confident he doesn’t need anyone (except the Mar-a-Lago staff) in his efforts. He has never been held accountable and why should that confidence waiver now? He will happily throw Rudy under the bus and he already has a list of nicknames for him.
I think he is a billionaire for sure. I also am sure he is less rich than he says he is.
The problem is that being a billionaire is meaningless if your assets are non-liquid. Billionaires (like Musk) borrow the money to live on, and then frequently don't pay it back. Banks keep lending to them, because there are other services that are very profitable for the banks, so that subsidizes the loss of loaning money to billionaires for their living expenses and writing it off when the loans are defaulted on.
The cycle continues
I agree. I thought the widely-held belief is that he is not a billionaire, just someone who has successfully embellished throughout his lifetime.
While I do think Trump is a billionaire, I also think he won’t part with his money. Why would he? He has his supporters sending him money as he plays victim in chief. He fundraisers like crazy and his supporters fall for the scheme. Every. Single. Time. He has a long history of not paying legal bills and not paying people that do work for him. This is his M.O. Am I surprised he seems to be kicking Rudy to the curb? Not at all. I do believe that I have read that Rudy was always a scoundrel but 9/11 put him at the heart of the egregious attacks on our country. He managed to lead us through those horrible days. Suddenly he was America’s mayor. Yet, Rudy didn’t change who he was and he continues to be a scoundrel. Is it in Trumps best interest to pay Rudy and perhaps shut him up? Of course, but we know he won’t. Michael Cohen asked for help and didn’t get it but found that testifying against Trump, Cohen was labeled a liar and can’t be trusted. Trump is a NYC gutter rat and none of this is surprising.
Also worth noting Elaine that aside from an initial investment of his own money in the 2016 campaign,. he has never dipped into his personal coffers to fund his races.
All of this is classic tRump! "OH he did a really bad job (doing whatever for the tRump crime family), so I'm not going to pay up. So sue me!"
Seems more like blackmail than bribery to me, but I get it, that's a matter of semantics. Either way, I would love to see them both go down in flames.
I am not the least bit surprised that it has come to this for Giuliani. I would hope that all the other sycophants pay attention to how he treats people in his orbit.
I also hope GOP voters do the same and see him for the sham he really is!
This is just my humble opinion.
Judi, what amazes me is that Trump has ALWAYS treated people in his orbit this way! This is the rule, not the exception! And yet, people keep limning up to work for/with him.
For 60 years, he has been doing this! And people thought he was a genius businessman?
They see it as a duty, an honor and a privilege to go bankrupt in service to their tiny-handed messiah.
It seems like to me that Rudy is in big trouble with or without a cash infusion to pay his legal bills.
Also, if Trump is using his followers’ money to pay for lawyers for Rudy, doesn’t it mean there would be strings attached? If the lawyer was truly representing him, and not Trump, the advice would surely be to flip as much as possible.
Lucky for Rudy he’s likely to have a roof over his head and not be homeless after Dominion, Smartmatic, Noelle Dunphy, Ruby Freeman, Shaye Moss and anyone else with a suit against him take every dime he’s got. I’m looking forward to him being represented by a public defender.
Kevin, I do think Rudy's money problems are real. How real? Hard to say since he is so non transparent about it. But he's got a lot of lawyers and legal bills piling up.
Ironic since, I believe, he was running around like a dollar store Paul Manafort before he signed on with Trump. Dirty deeds done dirt cheap.
I always assume that Ghooly Auntie would need to threaten to rat on Trump in order to get Trump to pay him. Trump pays no one of his own free volition.
Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!
Merci!
Okay, we may have some trials coming up. I have a question for you smart people out there: how are we going to find 12 jurors that can reach a unanimous decision with regards to the fat orange one. Does it have to be unanimous? Because you just know that some jurors will say anything to get on this trial.
Yes, the jury must be unanimous to convict.
Typically, jurors will say anything to avoid jury duty. I may be a naive optimist, but I do believe the jury selection process wii root out the MAGAts.
We can only hope.
The best , albeit weak, defense Trump has is that he relied on the advice of counsel re the false elector scheme , etc. He should keep Rudy in the tent. But Trump has shown repeatedly that sound judgments are not his thing
Yeah that's the thing. He repeatedly does stuff that is demonstrably in his best interests. Which makes me think the strategy is that there no strategy at all.
Chris, love the column. That said, I don't think the title implies what you think it does...or does it?
Or does it!
Seems a bit like Rudy and Donald are playing a high stakes game of Russian roulette! With more than one chamber loaded!
In the words of Rick Wilson, #ETTD
I have some hardball. https://open.substack.com/pub/majormikewebb/p/lopez-bonus-dias-senior-eaters?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web