Giuliani Walks Back Comments on Trump Tower Moscow Talks: Remarks Were ‘Hypothetical’
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani today walked back comments he made about the Trump Tower Moscow project timeline lasting throughout 2016.
Giuliani spoke to The New York Times and provided some details about those talks:
President Trump was involved in discussions to build a skyscraper in Moscow throughout the entire 2016 presidential campaign, his personal lawyer said on Sunday, a longer and more significant role for Mr. Trump than he had previously acknowledged.
The comments by his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani indicated that Mr. Trump’s efforts to complete a business deal in Russia waned only after Americans cast ballots in the presidential election… The Trump Tower Moscow discussions were “going on from the day I announced to the day I won,” Mr. Giuliani quoted Mr. Trump as saying during an interview with The New York Times.
But after giving the Times a direct quote from the President, Giuliani is now saying his comments were “hypothetical”:
Giuliani clarifying what he said yesterday about Trump/timeframe on the Moscow tower project:
“My recent statements about discussions during the 2016 campaign between Michael Cohen and then-candidate Donald Trump about a potential Trump Moscow ‘project’ were hypothetical…” 1/2— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 21, 2019
”…and not based on conversations I had with the President. My comments did not represent the actual timing or circumstances of any such discussions. The point is that the proposal was in the earliest stage and did not advance beyond a free non-binding letter of intent.” 2/2
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 21, 2019
Of note in the reactions to Giuliani’s new statement is George Conway remarking, “Translation: ‘I just make s**t up.'”
[image via screengrab]
