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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGiuliani says Russia's stolen materials were 'like a gift' to Trump
Gee, ya think??
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/giuliani-says-russias-stolen-materials-were-gift-trump
Giuliani says Russias stolen materials were like a gift to Trump
05/23/18 09:20 AMUpdated 05/23/18 09:23 AM
By Steve Benen
Last week, Rudy Giuliani took his legal defense of Donald Trump in a curious direction, insisting that the presidents campaign didnt collude with its Russian benefactors because Team Trump never used content from Putins government.
For a variety of reasons, this was not a good argument. For one thing, it suggests any evidence of the Trump campaign utilizing information from Russia necessarily becomes evidence of collusion. For another, theres already evidence of the Trump campaign utilizing information from Russia on plenty of occasions, including making frequent use of materials stolen by Russia and disseminated through WikiLeaks.
All of which brings us to the latest HuffPost report on the former mayors evolving defense.
It is not, Giuliani said.
Then he switched tacks.
OK, and if it is, it isnt illegal It was sort of like a gift, he said. And youre not involved in the illegality of getting it.
So let me get this straight. Russia stole Democratic materials to put Trump in power; Trump solicited and welcomed the Russian assistance, and according to Giuliani, this may or may not be evidence of collusion.
Either way, were not supposed to care, because according to the presidents lawyer, the president merely took advantage of a gift from a foreign adversary that attacked our election.
The Washington Posts Aaron Blake did a nice job documenting the ever-changing nature of the Trump World argument, from the initial bogus talking point the campaign never had any communications with Russian officials to the latest rhetoric from Giuliani.
This matters because, as a rule, when a president and his team struggle to keep their stories straight, and routinely move the goalposts, its evidence of a deeper problem.
As for Russias gifts to the president ahead of the 2016 election, Rachel last night highlighted some fascinating excerpts from former Director of National Intelligence James Clappers new book, Facts and Fears, including this one:
On a routine basis, whenever the public published an allegation that hurt Clinton, the Russians would repeat, amplify, and embellish that claim. And when the Russians promulgated a conspiracy theory about her, Trump would repeat it at campaign rallies and on Twitter. Whether secretly coordinated or not, whether this was actual collusion or not, this parallelism constituted a putative team effort by the Russian government and the Trump campaign.
Giulianis assertion It was sort of like a gift isnt going to cut it.
Initech
(100,076 posts)Anything you say will only further incriminate you.
genxlib
(5,526 posts)This statement
OK, and if it is, it isnt illegal
It was sort of like a gift, he said. And youre not involved in the illegality of getting it.
If you are given something and you know it is stolen, that is a crime if you accept that gift and keep it. It is possession of stolen goods.
This guy is a terrible lawyer. But then again I repeat myself.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)matt819
(10,749 posts)Each time?
It pops up all the time, and Rudy, bless his little heart, proves the essential truth of the meme. I can't find the proper version, but you get the idea.
I didn't say that.
I said it but I didn't mean it.
I meant it but I don't have to apologize.
I apologize.
Etc. You get the idea. If anyone can find the better version, you can see how much of it applies to Rudy.
Totally unrelated. In looking things up, I noticed that Rudy's son looks eerily like Eric Trump
https://www.gettyimages.ae/pictures/andrew-giuliani-983619#/andrew-giuliani-attends-the-golf-channels-big-break-dominican-at-le-picture-id104497234