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Then Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump walks with former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani through the new Trump International Hotel in Washington on September 16, 2016. Photo: Reuters

Rudy Giuliani joins Trump’s legal team to ‘negotiate an end’ to Mueller’s Russia probe

‘He has been my friend for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country’

Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a combative former prosecutor and long-time ally of US President Donald Trump, says he has joined Trump’s personal legal team dealing with the ongoing special counsel probe into Russian election meddling.

“I’m doing it because I hope we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country and because I have high regard for the president and for Bob Mueller,” Giuliani said in an interview.

Trump counsel Jay Sekulow said Thursday in a statement that Giuliani is joining the team along with two former federal prosecutors, Jane Serene Raskin and Marty Raskin, a couple who jointly run a Florida-based law firm. 

“Rudy is great,” Trump said in the statement issued by Sekulow. “He has been my friend for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country.”
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani introduces Donald Trump at a campaign event in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on October 22, 2016. Photo: Reuters

Giuliani, who joins a legal team that has struggled to recruit new members, said he has been speaking with Trump for weeks about joining the group of legal advisers. He said he would work alongside Trump’s current attorneys, Sekulow and Ty Cobb, who are focusing on the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He also said he will soon take a leave from his law firm, Greenberg Traurig.

Giuliani is a former US attorney for the Southern District of New York, which is the office currently overseeing an investigation of Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen.

Giuliani said he formalised his decision in recent days, including over dinner last week at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
In this file photo taken on January 31, 2017, US President Donald Trump (left) and others listen while former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (right) speaks during a meeting on cybersecurity in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Giuliani and Trump spoke on Thursday about legal strategy moving forward, along with Sekulow, whom Giuliani described as a “good friend.” He added that he and Cobb spoke on Wednesday.

Giuliani declined to say whether Trump has made a final decision on whether to sit for an interview with Mueller and his investigators. Trump has been mulling for weeks whether to do so, veering between wanting to meet with Mueller to moving away from the idea, especially after the home, offices and hotel room of his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, were raided this month.

“It’s too early for me to say that,” Giuliani said of whether a Mueller interview is unlikely to happen.

Giuliani also declined to discuss whether Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has been under fire from conservatives and oversees the Russia probe, could be fired by the president in the coming weeks.

“I’m not involved in anything about those issues. My advice on Mueller has been this: He should be allowed to do his job. He’s entitled to do his job.”

The Daily Beast reported earlier Thursday that Giuliani was in talks with Trump about joining the legal team.

Giuliani said he would spend a “great deal of time” in Washington working with Trump, but would continue to live in New York.

Trump had considered Giuliani for attorney general and has said in recent weeks he needs a New York-based attorney. Many leading white-collar lawyers, such Theodore Olson, have declined Trump’s entreaties.

Trump is known to be a difficult client who does not listen to his attorneys’ advice, according to lawyers who are familiar with his conduct.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Giuliani JOINS TRUMP LEGAL TEAM
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