Rudy Giuliani Battles Chuck Todd — ‘Truth Isn’t Truth’
CHUCK TODD: But aren’t you, let me ask you this, Mr. Mayor, I want to play, play, aren’t you and the president to blame for the delay in the Mueller report? Take a listen, this is how you have answered the question about a Mueller interview. Take a listen, you’ll enjoy it, I promise.
RUDY GIULIANI: (laughs)
[BEGIN TAPE]
GIULIANI: Never beyond two or three hours.
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GIULIANI: If there were written answers and they might — most probably would be under oath.
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GIULIANI: The main focus that we want, I can tell you, simply is Russia.
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GIULIANI: They would probably limit it to collusion and obstruction.
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GIULIANI: He doesn’t need to ask a single question on obstruction.
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GIULIANI: If we do that under oath, we end up in a sort of Martha Stewart situation.
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GIULIANI: Mueller has all the answers. We’ve given them.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD: Can’t you speed up Mueller’s report and can’t you have more credibility about beating up Mueller to get his report out if you get the president to sit down with him?
RUDY GIULIANI: Chuck, first off, get the word credibility out of it, I think we have plenty of credibility. The last two letters that came, they took about 11 or 12 days to respond to our letter, sent us a response that sets forth a negotiating position about an interview. We didn’t reject it, we didn’t say out of hand that we’re not going to do it. And they put some pressure on us to come back quickly. Well, we did. We came back in 4 days. It is now a week and a half later and they have not responded to our letter. Now, don’t tell me that we’re delaying this if they’re spending a week and a half getting back to us. I don’t know why they’re doing that but they’re sure as heck not showing any desire to expedite it. I can’t get them to write a letter faster than they have and if you want to start counting up the time that we have taken to draft a letter —
(OVERTALK)
CHUCK TODD: So you believe this is on them? You believe this is on them, that you would’ve, that you guys have not delayed the interviewing —
RUDY GIULIANI: No.
CHUCK TODD: —delayed the negotiations with Mr. Mueller?
RUDY GIULIANI: Yes, each time, by 3 or 4 days, so we could write a letter in response. They have taken 2-3 weeks to get back to us, so what I have to tell you is, look, I am not going to be rushed into having him testify so that he gets trapped into perjury. And when you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he’s going to tell the truth and he shouldn’t worry, well that’s so silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth. Not the truth. He didn’t have a, a conversation —
CHUCK TODD: Truth is truth. I don’t mean to go like —
RUDY GIULIANI: No, it isn’t truth. Truth isn’t truth. The President of the United States says, “I didn’t — ”
CHUCK TODD:
Truth isn’t truth? Mr. Mayor, do you realize, what, I, I, I—
RUDY GIULIANI:
No, no, no—
CHUCK TODD:
This is going to become a bad meme.
RUDY GIULIANI:
Don’t do, don’t do this to me.
CHUCK TODD:
Don’t do truth isn’t truth to me.
RUDY GIULIANI:
Donald Trump says I didn’t talk about Flynn with Comey. Comey says you did talk about it, so tell me what the truth is.
CHUCK TODD:
Don McGahn might know.
RUDY GIULIANI:
If you’re such a genius, John McGahn — Don McGahn doesn’t know. If that’s the situation —
CHUCK TODD:
Ok.
RUDY GIULIANI:
— they have two pieces of evidence, Trump says I didn’t tell them and the other guy says that he did say it, which is the truth? Maybe you know because you’re a genius.
CHUCK TODD:
At that point, you’re right. Under two people, I, no, you’re right. I don’t read minds on that front. Let me ask you this final question.
RUDY GIULIANI:
No, we have, we have, no, no, no, let me finish. We have a credibility gap between the two of them. You’ve got to select one or the other. Now, who do you think Mueller’s going to select? One of his best friends, Comey, or the president who he has been carrying on a completely wild, crazy—
CHUCK TODD:
It it possible—
RUDY GIULIANI:
—unorthodox investigation.
CHUCK TODD:
— is it possible he makes a conclusion based on who’s been more truthful over the years?
RUDY GIULIANI:
It’s possible that he’ll make the conclusion on which of the two statements is more logical, which of the two statements has more common sense. Yeah, it’s possible he can do that. But, no, you can’t bring into, you can’t bring into, into question prior conduct. You’re not even allowed to do that at a trial.
