Rudy Giuliani has decided – in his infinite wisdom – to defy a congressional subpoena.
“If they enforce it then we will see what happens”, he told ABC on Tuesday, adding that he’s no longer using Jon Sale as his lawyer. “Jon has done what I retained him for”, he later said in comments to Politico. Sale sent a letter to the House Intelligence Committee advising Adam Schiff that Giuliani would not comply with the subpoena “because this appears to be an unconstitutional, baseless, and illegitimate ‘impeachment inquiry”.
The former New York mayor turned-raving conspiracy theorist was subpoenaed late last month in connection with the House’s ongoing investigation into Donald Trump.
Read more: Rudy Giuliani Under Investigation By Manhattan Prosecutors In Ukraine Scheme
House Democrats’ probe increasingly revolves around Giuliani and his shadow diplomacy in Ukraine. “Our inquiry includes an investigation of credible allegations that you acted as an agent of the President in a plot to advance his personal political interests by abusing the power of the Office of the President”, House investigators wrote to Rudy on September 30.
In the two weeks since, the walls have closed in. Giuliani is reportedly under investigation by Manhattan prosecutors for his lobbying efforts in Ukraine after his fixers in the country were arrested on campaign finance charges tied to a scheme that resulted in the ouster of former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.
Yovanovitch gave a damning account to lawmakers on Friday and Giuliani was similarly castigated on Monday by former John Bolton aide Fiona Hill.
His two fixers — Florida businessmen Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman — have been photographed with Trump and Don Jr. and worked with Ukrainian contacts to spin a story which they then pitched to former Texas Rep. Pete Sessions. Sessions pushed for Yovanovitch’s removal, but has denied wrongdoing.
Giuliani on Tuesday told Reuters he received $500,000 in compensation working for a company co-founded by Parnas. The Boca-based entity called – and we kid you not – “Fraud Guarantee” purports to assist clients in “reducing and mitigating fraud”.
Rudy told Reuters the company “engaged Giuliani Partners, a management and security consulting firm, around August 2018… to consult on Fraud Guarantee’s technologies and provide legal advice on regulatory issues”.
So, let’s just take a moment to recap. Lev Parnas was arrested last week on charges including conspiracy to commit campaign finance fraud. He was at the center of Giuliani’s pressure campaign aimed at compelling the Ukrainians to conduct investigations aimed at influencing the 2020 US election. While that alleged campaign finance fraud was going on, Giuliani was paid a half million dollars for “consultation” work with a Parnas-owned company called “Fraud Guarantee”, and part of that consulting involved “legal advice”.
It’s almost too stupid to believe. The jokes just write themselves.
The money from the company “came in two payments made within weeks of each other”, Giuliani told Reuters, adding that although “most of the work he did for Fraud Guarantee was completed in 2018… he had been doing follow-up for over a year”.
Fruman received two $500,000 wire transfers from an unnamed Russian in September and October of 2018. That money was then doled out by Fruman, Parnas and two co-conspirators in a bid to buy influence, according to the indictment.
Asked whether maybe – just maybe – any of the $500,000 that Rudy received from “Fraud Guarantee” might have come from that pool of Russian cash, Giuliani says he’s absolutely sure that’s not the case.
“I know beyond any doubt the source of the money is not any questionable source”, he insisted during his interview with Reuters. “The money did not come from foreigners. I can rule that out 100%”.
All you can do is laugh. Because it really is funny. And also somewhat sad.
Read more:
Fiona Hill, Gordon Sondland Seen Telling Congress The Truth. And That’s Not Good For Trump, Giuliani
if the stormy daniels payoff was “legal expenses”, Im sure there are many more like that. also this money comes right from russia, no doubt. djt wanted to become a ukrainian oligarch! during the nixon impeachment, the guilty still enjoyed a large degree of public support and called ‘conspiracy’ as well—then as today, they were looking right in the mirror.
Why not defy the subpoena? Nothing seems to come of it so far for any who have done the same under mr Trump’s order.
because Rudy is a private citizen. he’s not a government employee. he can’t just defy a congressional subpoena citing Trump.
Because its wrong?
Practically speaking, now that the House is down to brass tacks Constitution (Article 1 Section 5, which seems to be missing from Cipollone’s copy) and given the “pattern and practice” of defying valid subpoenas, one imagines that the Federal judiciary will not be overly sanguine (except perhaps a few outliers like Rao) about permitting a private citizen to defy a Congressional subpoena. Trump’s approach is kind of like the neighbor who files one frivolous lawsuit too many over a settled property line. Eventually, the courts bar him from filing any more.
There are many of us in NYC who are looking forward to seeing “America’s mayor” behind bars.
And hopefully he’ll have lots of company.
The name of the firm Giuliani did consulting for, “Fraud Guarantee,” reminds me of the hypothetical firm used in questions on the Series 7 exam: Dewey Cheatem & Howe
lol
🙂
as mentioned elsewhere also pls. keep in mind that Igor Fruman owns a club called “Mafia Rave”.
Furthermore he made the alleged illegal payments using the name “Igor FURMAN” to hide his identity.
I feel really sorry for The Onion
Ghouliani is a corrupt scumbag, but I’d be inclined to let him off completely if he could produce actual work product that could be generously valued at even 1/10th what he was actually paid by “Guaranteed Fraud.”
Contempt and impeachment, what next? Just tossing out a few references here. Seems like Rudy should serve time in jail for contempt and the Dems need to totally go for broke in this and enforce law and powers.
Congress’s Contempt Power and the
Enforcement of Congressional Subpoenas:
Law, History, Practice, and Procedure
Todd Garvey (Congressional Research Service)
Legislative Attorney
May 12, 2017
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34097.pdf
===> In comparison with the other types of contempt proceedings, inherent contempt has the distinction of not requiring the cooperation or assistance of either the executive or judicial branches. The House or Senate can, on its own, conduct summary proceedings and cite the offender for contempt.
Furthermore, although the contemnor can seek judicial review by means
of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the scope of such review may be relatively limited, compared to the plenary review accorded by the courts in cases of conviction under the criminal contempt statute.
There are also certain limitations on the inherent contempt process. Although the contemnor can be incarcerated until he agrees to comply with the subpoena, imprisonment may not extend beyond the end of the current session of Congress.91
What is inherent contempt?
(a) The power of Congress to conduct investigations, inherent in the legislative process, is broad, but it is not unlimited. P. 354 U. S. 187.
(c) No inquiry is an end in itself; it must be related to, and in furtherance of, a legitimate task of Congress. P. 354 U. S. 187.
(j) In authorizing an investigation by a committee, it is essential that the Senate or House should spell out the committee’s jurisdiction and purpose with sufficient particularity to insure that compulsory process is used only in furtherance of a legislative purpose. P. 354 U. S. 201.
(q) Since the statute defines the crime as refusal to answer “any question pertinent to the question under inquiry,” part of the standard of criminality is the pertinency of the questions propounded to the witness. P. 354 U. S. 208.
(r) Due process requires that a witness before a congressional investigating committee should not be compelled to decide, at peril of criminal prosecution, whether to answer questions propounded to him without first knowing the “question under inquiry” with the same degree of explicitness and clarity that the Due Process Clause requires in the expression of any element of a criminal offense. Sinclair v. United States, 279 U. S. 263. Pp. 354 U. S. 208-209.
==> Well worth reading in whole, with connections to Nixon and Clinton and how Congressional powers have evolved:
How Congress Can Access the Legal Powers of Impeachment Without a Formal Inquiry
https://www.justsecurity.org/65115/how-congress-can-access-the-legal-powers-of-impeachment-without-a-formal-inquiry/
Also: ==> The power of the Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the legislative process. That power is broad. It encompasses inquiries concerning the administration of existing laws, as well as proposed or possibly needed statutes. It includes surveys of defects in our social, economic or political system for the purpose of enabling the Congress to remedy them. It comprehends probes into departments of the Federal Government to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste.38
The subsequent report from the JCT found that the IRS had, in fact, failed to ensure Nixon paid what he owed. He agreed to pay nearly half a million dollars in back taxes.73
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2019/04/01/468048/president-trump-cannot-hide-tax-returns-congress/
Many thanks for this information and references. Great to see someone who actually has some Factual correct “facts”. Good luck to all decent Americans who know what is right and wrong and are determined to do something about the wrong.
So, what are these dudes actually guilty of, what’s the crime? Turns out, that dumb Mueller Report remains a highly important part of the current investigation and it allows Congress to move forward with special judicial powers — and various rats seem to be falling into a nice net that was waiting for them. I had my doubts about any of this resulting in anything, but now I feel impeachment results will be less than a month away — and the sooner this warps up, the faster the GOP can launch a new crime figure for president — and they know that!
==> “Remarkably, the DOJ said this week that the Department “explored whether the July call merited opening a criminal investigation into potential campaign finance violations by the president” and “concluded it did not–that the information discussed on the call didn’t amount to a ‘thing of value’ that could be quantified, which is what the campaign finance laws require.” This determination by the DOJ flies in the face of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s interpretation of the same provision of law.
https://www.justsecurity.org/66333/the-icebergs-tip-ukraine-phone-call-and-the-months-long-conspiracy-to-violate-federal-campaign-finance-laws/
Also see background ideas for Rudy:
The Bureau’s investigation of Al Capone arose from his reluctance to appear before a federal grand jury on March 12, 1929 in response to a subpoena. On March 11, his lawyers formally filed for postponement of his appearance, submitting a physician’s affidavit dated March 5, which attested that Capone had been suffering from bronchial pneumonia in Miami, had been confined to bed from January 13 to February 23, and that it would be dangerous to Capone’s health to travel to Chicago. His appearance date before the grand jury was re-set for March 20.
https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/al-capone