Wow. Giuliani was loved by New Yorkers and many others in 2001. Know that's a while ago, but not so long ago that I'd believe so many turn on him. Sad.
1
Rudy's "glory days running New York City after 9/11": Yes, and how few those haggard days were. After his first good night's sleep, he was immediately back to form, saying the mayoral election should be postponed because his leadership was indispensable.
3
Don't forget Lev and Igor. I hear they have "insurance" too.
2
Rudy can always become a tour guide in Ukraine. He seems to have been everywhere, knows all the underworld-like people, cashes in on the riches of the country through grifting and grafting, and probably is shopping for another wife there in case he has to avoid the long arm of the FBI. He might be the only one in America who might have become wealthy from the Twin Towers attack. Why not go to where profiteering from attacks can be even more profitable.
2
Just in from the Daily Beast. Representative Nunce was working with Lev Parmas and Igor doing an investigation of some sort in 2018. Lev and Igor have been arrest as they were on their way trying to leave the country.
Lev and Igor were clients or business partners of Giuliani. I would like to know more about Nunes' relationship with both Lev and Igor and Giuliani. This relationship may have compromised Nunes' position in the impeachment inquiry. I had no idea until today about an hour ago that Nunes' worked with Lev and Igor doing an investigation. What was that investigation about. Did it have anything to do with Ukraine or the Bides?
2
Amazing how once again the Russians benefit from Trump's antics.
1
Gail, thank you for your continued ability to find humor in all this.
2
Giuliani is the John Mitchell of this administration with absolutely no regard for the truth or the rule of law.
3
How many days/hours before Donald Trump recalls that he has never heard of Rudy Giuliani, never met him, never spoken to him, ... ?
4
If he got rid of Rudy where would he get his next conspiracy theory?
Sounds like Gail doesn’t much like Rudy
But Rudy keeps doing his duty
But what 'bout his face?
What the heck's taking place?
His expressions reveal a shrewd shrewdie
Wait. You know it's coming....
Trump:
Rudy Giuliani?...well I think he was a good mayor...
some say the best...but you know I'm not sure you can call him my lawyer. I don't really pay him anything.
2
President Trump barely knows Giuliani. Dont you know?
1
I'd like to hear Michael Cohen's advice for Rudy...
"Talking on an unsecure cell phone in Ukraine will get you 10 to 20."
1
"Yes, the president’s lawyer needs a lawyer." That captures the moronic destructiveness of the Trump Administration.
3
It's really not fair to make fun of the mentally ill or the senile.
Except in Rudy's and his client's cases, of course.
But, then, most of the mentally ill and/or senile are not in a position to endanger billions of lives, only those who love and seek to protect them.
Should Trump Tromp Rudy? His Consigliere? Yes, why not, and vice versa. We elected a President and got instead a Capo di Capi, a boss of bosses of a political mafia.
1
The best one can say about Giuliani is his hiring of William Bratton as Police Commissioner whose end came as a result of too much limelight NYPD success. What followed were supplicants of the same sort that surround the current President....There was also the Fire Department Advisory not to place tens of thousands of gallons of fuel for the Emergency Command Center adjacent to the Structure that sadly became a funeral pyre .The inability of PD and FD radios to communicate with each other that day was also unfortunate though much discussed after the earlier attack. It was blamed on budgetary concerns at the time.....
1
And let’s not forget his decision to place the Command Center in the WTC. Even after it was a known terrorist target.
1
These hearings are the train wreck I can't look away from--not because of the witnesses, most of whom are people of high integrity, Mr. Sondland excepted, but because the Republican ability to deny the truth is truly amazing. Nunes is playing McCarthy's role--everyone is out to get Trump, much as McCarthy saw a commie under every rock. Nunes' opening statements are cringeworthy as he twists himself into knots to pretend that Trump did nothing wrong.
13
@Barbara when trump leaves office someone should play this video to Nunes over and over again so Nunes, his children, his grandchildren see how cringeworthy Nunes’ performance was throughout these hearings.
3
I just had a horrible thought. Suppose some miracle happens and trump is not only impeached, but convicted in the Senate and removed from office. Could he then run for President again anyway? Does anyone know the answer to this? Does impeachment permanently bar someone from holding office? In a normal world you could suppose that someone who had been removed from office wouldn't have a chance even if they could run, but we no longer live in a normal world.
3
@jim yes he could run. the senate could take another vote requiring a 2/3 majority making him ineligible.
1
Well done as usual. I especially liked "The president’s lawyer needs a lawyer."
4
Find the biggest bus possible!
4
Oh Rudy - looking so much like Emperor Palpatine - can't wait to see where Lev and Igor fit into this. The puzzle pieces are almost all there - for all of us to see.
4
A radio interview outside the Congress with a lady Trump supporter, she said "What are they doing to this poor man, ever since he was elected they were after him.
Poor? in what sense?
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
We really have to defeat this in 2020, it is impossible to gage the damage he will do to the Republic's fabric with 4 more years.
13
I am also amazed at how many supporters turn a blind eye to his behavior and feel “sorry” for him. The man who represents the worse in mankind drawing sympathy when his illegal activities are being called out.
1
It's becoming clear why these impeachment proceedings are necessary and why Democrats must at least try to end the Trump regime.
Left to its own devices, the Trump cabal would have undermined--destroyed really--a key ally in our differences with Russia. Funds for that ally's defense were withheld and there's no reason to believe that they would ever have been released had the whistle blower not spoken up.
Our alliance with that struggling democracy would have been shattered by the shenanigans Giuliani and his cohorts engaged in. Democrats could not reasonably be expected to fund Ukrainian defense efforts if those funds would be used against Democrats. And the leader of the Republican party has shown little taste for any action that might offend Putin.
Left to its own defenses, this bulwark against Russian aggression would have been decimated and all of Europe put at risk.
Can there be any reasonable doubt that our president is an outright traitor? Can there be any reasonable doubt that his whole party is complicit in that treason?
12
Rudy has been frolicking around NYC with Trump for a long time. They both know where all the skeletons are. I may be completely wrong, but Rudy could probably throw Trump under the bus instead. Just imagine the threats they throw at each other. Maybe they'll both go down together. Couldn't happen to two nicer guys.
19
I was enjoying the last of a jar of wild caught herring in wine sauce when 'red herring' floated by...just the word. That's exactly what the Republicans have been feeding us in their impeachment questioning. Trump must have bought a crate of smoked herring, dried it out, and passed it around like MAGA hats. Can't you smell it?
4
I don't doubt for one second that Rudy would turn on Trump to save himself. And he knows A LOT.
101
@Wilson Mr. Trump would be saying, “Rudy who, I hardly know that guy”. Isn’t he doing the same, or is a least trying to, with Sonderland?
18
@Michael He'll demand immunity. Would Schiff and the Democrats do that? Would they consult with the prosecutors in the SDNY or the NYC DA's office before undermining the cases they're building against the former NY mayor? I'm not sure whether a grant of use-immunity for tesifying before the Intelligence Committee would require the approval of the minority Does anyone think Nunes, Jordan et al. will go along with it? Whether he likes it or not, Rudy is going to go down with the ship, even from under the bus.
8
@Wilson
Rudy has already said that he isn't worried because he has lots of insurance. Spill it, Rudy!
4
Of course Trump can't do anything right now with any of his top personnel. It would be an admission of guilt and whoever gets thrown under the (crowded) bus would then have a reason to flip.
As long as the top actors (and I mean that in a literal sense) don't crack, the outcome is clear: Trump wins in a Senate trial.
Nixon held a conspiracy together for what, almost two years?
The question is what it will take for this one to unravel. The democrats have not yet pulled on the right thread.
1
It's sad when "Trump-speak" means rude and vulgar. Whatever happened to dignity in a president?
11
@Linda out of a population of 327 million some 60 million say they like trump, rest of us, dislike him from the bottom of our hearts and souls and he knows it. Many republicans don’t like him either but for them party is more important than country heart soul...
2
Rudy says he has "insurance". Let's see it to make sure the bus runs over Trump too, though Sondland has already thrown Trump under the bus.
2
Trump may not throw Rudy under the bus for the same reason he hesitates to malign Putin his personal and political fortune could tumble and hit rock bottom with some damaging evidence that TRump is as corrupt as he appears to be.
4
Oh, I think this is just one big understanding and once our Dear President testifies (he'd be sooo much better in person, but written answers are ok if you can find a translator) it will all be cleared up and make perfect sense.
Harry Truman: "The buck stops here."
Donald Trump: "Talk to Rudy."
Two management styles. Which do we prefer?
132
I think one of the most interesting questions raised at the hearing so far is this: Who benefited from Giuliani's demand for investigations? Only one person in the world. I don't think trashing Rudy is going to convince anyone that Trump wasn't directing this.
5
Like Charlie, someone should put him on the NY subway one nickel short so he can ride the rails forever and never get out.
83
@MichiganMichael : ' ... and through the open window we'll hand him an indictment, as the train comes rumblin' through.'
or, 'a pair of handcuffs ...'
or, 'an orange jumpsuit ... '
19
Charlie rode the MTA, in Boston.
3
@the dogfather
But there is no exit charge on the subway.
I strongly suspect that Rudy was the person who got the NY office of the FBI to reopen the case of Hillary's emails just before the 2016 election. And he did this to help Trump who was in a bad place thanks to the tape with Billy Bush. This is Ruydy's "insurance". Why else would Trump stick by Rudy?
All of this is surmise and heresay. But no worse that what Rush L and the right-wing radio "personalities" spew out every minute of every day.
8
Sure.
He can take the fall. He knows very well that soon as this circus is done, and he get's called this that and the other, and once it is all said and done, he will get himself a presidential pardon.
That is guaranteed.
So keep up the show, he can be used as a prop, to show that the Democrats did to America's Mayor on a political witch hunt.
The books come next.
That's the endgame. He knows that very well, and the Democrats should have known before they begun this freak show.
@AutumnLeaf
au contraire,
Democrats did not begin this freak show. There are many like myself who were deeply sadden by his election but felt certain that his vanity would cause him to repair the infrastructure if for no other reason than to make a mark, put his name on some grand thing to prove that he had been here.
So after reading the article and a lot of the letters, I would have to say that I have a lot more hope than others that the American people will do the right thing. As for Rudi he better call Saul!!
157
Nice thing about buses -- they're long. Plenty of room under there for more than just Rudy.
730
Subway train is my choice: mince, grind, pulp, repeat.
25
@gradyjerome we need a longer bus!
10
@gradyjerome -Oops! Trump just sold all the buses to Saudi Arabia for a hotel deal.
17
Anyone who Trump calls a great guy needs to worry. Trump can go from this to "I barely knew the guy" in a nanosecond. Anyone who gets caught off guard by this is either a megalomaniac or in severe denial. Probably both.
4
Here's an interesting story-line. BTW, it's pure fiction and the resemblance of any characters to actual persons, living or deceased, is coincidental.
The corrupt populist president of a fictional country comes under investigation by the bureaucracy and the stress causes him to have a stroke. He is removed from office because of his disabilities, under the constitutional guidelines, which require that his fellow partisans vote for his removal. He has enough ability that he continues on social media to trash his fellow partisans for his removal. There are various possibilities for the story going forward, but suppose none of them have whatever magic he had with his supporters who continue to stand behind him in spite of his obvious incoherence as he demeans the politicians of his own party with childish insults and blame for his predicament. I'm still trying to divine the ending, but, hey, it could make a good movie.
1
Donald Trump will throw anyone under the bus, for any reason that helps him in any way. But he doesn't have a good enough mind to figure out whether the victim has "insurance" in the form of a hook that will pull Trump right under the bus with him.
The biggest danger for Trump is that, in his frantic desire to go after anyone who can harm him in any way, he collects enemies and leaves his back exposed.
2
@Eleanor
If there isn't room for Trump under the bus he'll have to make a hole in the wall.
Giuliani is A problem, but he is not THE problem. Trump is THE problem.
9
Trump has always employed lawyers to help him evade/skirt the law, not to abide by it (see Cohen).
Now it is clear that Trump has hired Rudy to do his dirty work for him--successful or not (while probably enriching himself w/ some deals on the side).
At the end of the day, our president hired a civilian to muck with another country's problems, endangering them, as well as ourselves.
4
Question. Now that it has been revealed that President Zelensky was willing to do anything Trump wants, has his presidency been undermined, the Ukrainian people betrayed, or do the Ukrainian people understand that their president was willing to do anything, even humble himself before a corrupt American fool, to promote Ukrainian interests and advance the security of the Ukrainian people?
2
“Feed Giuliani to the mass transit system”
Preferably, wedge him within a packed 4 train in hot July, during the height of rush hour, so he can feel the weight of New Yorkers, disgusted by his behavior, bearing down upon him. Corrupt Giuliani and corrupt Trump, along with Trump's complicit GOP enablers, should be held accountable for their self-serving efforts to undermine our Constitution — and their oaths of office. They endanger us all.
1
it's only a matter of time before POTUS declares, "Giuliani? Hardly know him. We took some pictures together many years ago, but I can't remember the last time we spoke".
2
I keep wondering what Giuliani thinks he's doing. His reputation was sealed. But this is like Eisenhower deciding to publicly support Joe McCarthy.
1
Warms my heart, Gail. :)
1
Well, if he doesn't have insurance, he better well get some quick because I cam see the bus turning the corner and headed his way...full speed!
1
Respectfully, I believe if one reads the timeline of the Trump, Giuliani, Biden, Giuliani and Ukrainegate imbroglio, one will realize that in 2017, Trump was the first person to bring up the conspiracy theory in an interview with the AP. He floated the theory that "Ukraine might have played a role in falsely fingering Russia for its 2016 election interference." Then he continued to suggest in a haphazard manner that "they [Democrats] get hacked, and the FBI goes to see them, and they won't let the FBI see their server." Then he continues with the now the conspiracy theory that "they [Democrats] brought in another company that I hear is Ukrainian-based. That's what I heard. I heard it's owned by a very rich Ukrainian." Later in April, 2017, Trump brings up the same conspiracy theory with the Washington Examiner.
Then, in June, 2017, Giuliani, prior to becoming President Trump's personal attorney, meets with Giuliani, who would later become Trump's personal lawyer, meets with Poroshenko & Lutsenko, according to the House investigation. We now know that Lutsenko was feeding Giuliani Russian disinformation talking points that just happen to jive with what Trump had said to the press in April.
One can only add 2+2 & conclude that Putin fed Trump the Russian disinformation & Trump gobbled it hook line and sinker. He hired Giuliani to investigate the conspiracy theory and dig up the dirt on Biden. On the side, Giuliani was able to hustle up millions of dollars around the world.
2
He's not joking about his "insurance." I'm sure Rudy Giuliani knows a lot more about Donald Trump than Donald Trump realizes, or would be comfortable knowing he knew. Once upon a time,Rudy Giuliani was a self-righteous law and order type. What happened to him? What neurological switch got flipped to the Bizzaro side?
2
There are a couple of 'inappropriate' quid pro quos here.
You can separate the Rudy one from the Trump one.
It's not one scandal it's two. (Many more)?
Rudy does not get paid money for working for Trump. He gets quid. He gets access to insider deals, powerful people and sources of money for all kinds of sinister back door schemes.
From Rudy Trump gets secret nefarious campaign meddling help. In this case, using a debunked conspiracy to feed the news. Create a fake scandal and suspicion against a serious campaign rival threat. He also gets legal help and another Fox News evangelist. Rudy is a Trump back scratcher.
Do we really want people outside the government influencing foreign policy over people actually hired to?
This is Trump modus operandi, Roy Cohn, Roger Stone, Michael Cohen and many more signed on to be the boss's "consigliere". The secret to Trump's success has always been his signature 'quid pro quo'.
Also good to remember 2 other aspects of this story. Gas and Oil. Why Rick Perry is one of the 3 Amebas.
Evertbody laughs that Rudy used his own phone, some security expert. His own phone gave him records, so that if the russians heard. Some American.
may be under the biggest military tanker ?!
“I only know him as New York’s finest mayor,” said Alexander Vindman. A gracious, but erroneous, statement from a respectable individual.
Michael Bloomberg is New York's finest mayor. See you in 2020.
- registered Republican
1
"Rudy Giuliana? A nice guy I hear, but I don't know him very well."
Donald Trump can't throw Guliani under the bus because they are handcuffed together.
There has to be a big money trail somewhere in all of this mess. Rudy wouldn't go to all of this trouble just to smear Joe Biden. Some energy pay day at the end of the Ukrainian rainbow had to have been promised to Giuliani and his goons. I'm sure Trump had his hand out as well.
1
You couldn't make this up...
1
I’m not sure anyone needs to throw Rudi under the bus. He’s already on his hands and knees in the middle of a busy street.
1
Can I just say how much I love Gail's playful-yet-searing tone? It injects a much-needed sense of humor and absurdity into a quite serious attempt to save the country from Dirty Donald. I just have to admire this and other columns.
4
The bus is much hungrier than that. Rudy alone will not satisfy its appetite.
1
“Yes, the president’s lawyer needs a lawyer."
Everyone with more than passing acquaintance of the president needs a lawyer. And as this goes on it's likely there will have to be a daily queue of buses lined up on Pennsylvania Avenue, with some working protocol for who gets thrown first each day.
2
“He’s joking,” his lawyer said quickly. Yes, the president’s lawyer needs a lawyer."
I think Rudy was never an honest prosecutor. His heart was in elevating himself to higher office more than it was obtaining justice for the people. The more "popular" he got the more money he saw people that were not him making.
He's made quite a few million in the last few years pretending to be a cyber security expert. I expect he wants to hold on to it especially since he has humiliated himself so often for Trump that no one with sense will ever hire him again.
3
“I only know him as New York’s finest mayor,” said Alexander Vindman.
With all due respect, Colonel, Rudy isn't worthy to hold De Witt Clinton's coat or shine Seth Low's shoes.
1
Trump : “ He was our New York Covfefe Boy. I hardly knew Him “.
Seriously.
1
"Acting Scapegoat" Giuliani being replaced or to share duties with "Acting Scapegoat" Sondland?
Would be great to see Rudy thrown to the wolves but Trump would never do that out of fear that he will not go down quietly....Rudy would cooperate and tell all. He has always been a cowardly, punk
Insurance = the TRUTH.
An inane, distracting, red-herring, “dividing”, and stupid little subterfuge that Emperor Trump’s shrinking little base of very ‘base-people’ often use confusion/propaganda ii calling out the pro-democracy side of the aisle “No Trumpers”
But to be more accurate, insightful, educational, and politically effective for the Democrats that meaningless epithet should be changed to. “No Emperors”!
1
I don't doubt that rudy does have insurance - he might be a corrupt moron but he is not totally stupid and by now knows how trump operates.
1
Rudy, if you live by the liar, you perish by the liar.
1
Mr. Trump will have met his match if he throws Mr. Giuliani under the bus. In the battle of those egos, Rudy will flip on Trump faster than a dog looking for a tummy rub.
1
The Three Amigos do realize that in the movie of the same name, the title characters were complete idiots who completely fail into success, right? In this case, they are complete idiots that just fail.
Rudy strapped atop the Romney Holiday Rambler! It’s a dogs life.
3
@Tabula Rasa Seriously, only Gail readers will follow this thread.
2
"Now, of course, McCain has passed away, Lieberman is a lobbyist for a Chinese telecom company and Graham is Donald Trump’s lap puppy."
Graham,Trump's lap puppy? Trump's catamite, more like.
1
Frankly, Ms. Collins, I no longer care which Republican does what to whom. I'd be perfectly happy to see them all get in a mosh pit somewhere and rub mud in each others' hair. I just want them gone. Every last one of them.
Wednesday's explosive Gordon Sondland testimony was damning and conclusive. There's no longer any question that Donald Trump will be impeached and the impeachment case turned over to the Senate for trial. Given the composition of the Senate, however, I think it less likely that Trump will be convicted and thrown out of office. But it will serve to put all Republicans there under a political anvil. Will they uphold their oaths of office or -- as I fear -- will they continue to display cowardice and acquit Trump? If they acquit him, it will be the responsibility of every thinking, reasonable and honest American voter to throw the bums out at next November's elections.
3
"Vindman had clearly not heard about Giuliani’s decision, before the attack, to put the city’s emergency command center into the already-bombed-once World Trade Center because he wanted it to be within walking distance of City Hall. Or his nine million sexual escapades, which have dwindled from sort-of-shocking to really-really-depressing as he’s aged and gone more untethered."
Or how he unleashed his thug-cops to be as authoritarian and racist as possible, a perfect mirror of (Confederate) America's Mayor—and, ultimately, of his immediate boss.
THAT is vastly worse, to me, than even dumping the wife on live TV. Or—as John Oliver so perfectly put it—being "Giuliani Partners" with his cousin prior.
Rudy no doubt has something on trump. Seems everybody has something on trump.
But so did Cohen and he's probably wishing he were under a bus instead of in the pokey.
As does Manafort, Flynn, and Stone. As does the coffee boy.
What a sad gang of shop worn clowns who can't get out of their own way, too dumb to know how dumb they are. It's all slapstick without funny. Traitors who sell their country for an empty rumor, a lie, and a fantasy.
This is really terrible teevee.
1
Why destroy a perfectly good bus by throwing a big piece of trash under it? The only people getting hurt would be the people on board. Rudy is already dead from the neck up. He squandered any chance at having a decent legacy when he hitched his wagon to Trump's.
1
Even if thrown under the bus, Rudy will say "thank you, m'lord, may I have another?" A true sycophant knows how his bread is buttered ...
[mixing metaphors ... sorry!]
Rudy's sentence is riding the NYC subway.......24hrs a day for 5 years. No sleeping! No busking! No breakdancing!
Rudy should be arrested.
2
Rudy is a goner.
It isn't hard to connect the dots.
Cohen . . . Manafort . . . Stone . . . Guiuliani . . .
2
The ghoul aka Giuliani fits perfectly into this administration of liars, incompetents, and traitors, which also applies to the sordid unpatriotic republican party.
Throw Giuliani into a jail cell in the basement of the US Capitol, to force him to testify
Giuliani's insurance has to be pretty good, given all the other news we've gotten about Trump, from corrupt phone calls and business decisions to an affair with a porn star shortly after his new wife gave birth.
1
To throw Rudy under the bus implies he would have to die to take the fall for Trump. But it won't work – you can't kill the undead.
1
Rudy "has protection"? Sounds like somethin out of the "Godfather" followed by "Hey Vito, the boat blew up". No one could make this stuff up. I admire Adam Schiff for not taking his gavel and cracking it over Nunes' head. Pathetic.
There once was a shill name of Rudy,
Who thought fawning to Trump his one duty.
His demands for “quid pro quo”
From Kiev, were plain loco.
All they did was bring joy to Vlad “Pooty.”
2
Rick Perry probably can't remember the name of the third amigo. Ooops.
3
Rudy, please take Donald with you. Lots of buses run down 5th Avenue in front of the Trump Tower.
Watching the sleazy Jordan performance makes me want to take a shower. Or not.
1
“They were all in on it” but yet Sondland just couldn’t put it together that Burisma meant Bidens, give me a break. Then there was Sondland comment that he never heard Trump use the Biden names when it’s been all over CNN for the last 5 months. Sondland still in his ambassador job didn’t heed WH warning not to appear. This smells like last week fish
The really big problem Trump has with Rudy is this crazy guy knows where ALL the bodies are buried, both during his presidency and his life in N.Y. Rudy will not go down quietly! Sadly, this is how some angry old white guys end up.
Please, please, let us never utter the words "New York's finest mayor" in the same sentence as the name Rudy Giuliani ever again!!!
Rudy's joke was not funny. Enough said?
On June 21, 2019, Rudy tweeted:
"New Pres of Ukraine still silent on investigation of Ukrainian interference in 2016 election and alleged Biden bribery of Pres Poroshenko. Time for leadership and investigate both if you want to purge how Ukraine was abused by Hillary and Obama people."
The president's personal lawyer, not a government employee, acted as an agent to Trump. Trump is therefore 100% responsible for impeachable offenses. Giuliani is his evil mouthpiece.
This isn't the Mafia. This is the United States. Lt. Colonel Vindman represents what we're about. "Here, 'right' matters."
Republicans, give this up. Impeach this president. If you don't find corruption as exhausting as the good people of the United States do, then you all deserve to be thrown under the bus.
3
Gail it is worth revisiting Guiliani’s role in investigating Bidens.
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2019/sep/26/rudy-giulianis-role-ukraines-investigation-joe-bid/
“ Giuliani’s contacts with Ukrainians as Trump’s lawyer date back to at least late 2018.
According to the New Yorker, Giuliani spoke to Victor Shokin, Ukraine’s ousted former general prosecutor, in that fall. He met with Yurii Lutsenko, Shokin’s replacement, in January. In the spring, he started floating unsubstantiated allegations about the Bidens.
During a Fox News interview on April 7 — weeks before Biden launched his campaign — Giuliani claimed that when he was exploring Ukraine’s role in former special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russia’s election interference, he began hearing from Ukrainians about Biden.
"All of a sudden, they revealed the story about Burisma and Biden's son," Giuliani said. He later told the New York Times that his fixation on the Bidens "started with an allegation about possible Ukrainian involvement in the investigation of Russian meddling."
Should Trump tromp Rudy?
You use “should” as though you’re asking for advice. Since Trump throws EVERYONE around him under the bus, it's just a matter of timing. The corrected question: When will Trump tromp Rudy?”
Watch it spin on TLN (Trump Loyalty Network aka Fox....)
Sure, let Giuliani feel the consequences of having done something wrong - that’s only fair. As a bonus, when Rudy finds himself abandoned by his erstwhile pal Donald, he will not hold back on spilling every last detail about the criminality and sleaziness in the White House. Giuliani’s lips are loose enough when he’s still on Trump’s team, so with nothing to lose...
Rudy knows how to get to Sing Sing
I wonder what sort of bus Trump plans to throw Rudy under?
Steve Martin will play Perry
Martin Short= Volker
Chevy Chase is Sondland
Ha Far‼️
Months ago I thought Rudy was going down. Trump has zero loyalty. He’s a mobster only caring about you know who.
Golly. Remember when Oliver North showed up in uniform, defending Reagan with his burly chest full of manly medals? My how republicans have changed their tune.
2
Rudy is trump’s kryptonite.
Well he can't say that he barely knows Rudy....or can he???
1
Gail? Rudy craves so much attention that he wouldn't even mind if he's tossed under the bus.
Just look at the picture. Does that seem like a rational person?
Because Trump needs Rudy inside the tent.
1
Trump will throw Rudy under the bus when Fox News suggests it.
Maybe a GoFundMe campaign to pay off Rudy to take the fall?
Trump sand Giuliani are like an old vaudeville act that is all but washed up.
They both know where lots of bodies are buried, some of which could go back to NYC gangster deals. Insurance galore.
Giuliani is certainly no Roy Cohn, but he tries his best to induce the level of fear Trump's mentor routinely dished out. But even the wretched " America's mayor " can't reach such Satanic heights.
William Barr, another attenuated act, isn't as low rent as the aforementioned vaudevillians, but he is perfectly
comfortable in some sleazy theatrical alleyways.
“Feed Giuliani to the mass transit system.”
Let it be the 4 train, preferably on the hottest summer day during the height of rush hour, so he can feel the full weight of New York crushing down upon him. Rudy's reptilian conduct, along with Trump's, shames and endangers us — may they both face accountability, along with all other complicit enablers.
The Consiglieri don't need no stinkin' insurance: Rudy will take the fall if he's a stand-up guy.
America's Mayor was always a sleazy operator--even in his law and order/twin tower days. Won't go into the details----most native New Yorkers lived through his divorces and fascists police tactics--but he is Roy Cohn lite--which is why, Trump keeps him around. The irony of course is how many lawyers associated with Trump end up in jail or disbarred.
Dear Gail: I love your visceral depiction of what should be done with Mr. Gayani… Excuse my Siri Giuliani
1
Ms. Collins is right to view this as entertainment. But no throwing Giuliani under the bus. They must remain chummy. I’m running a contest to nickname them. So far, I’ve got Frick and Frack, Beavis and Butthead, Laurel and Hardy, Bonnie and Clyde and a few that are too explicit for the genteel.
It's the Trumpian thing to do, but he will have insurance. If I recall Trump couldn't find a lawyer in the Russian investigation, and lets face it he wasn't exonerated.
Trump has to win the next election otherwise the call to "lock her up" will eventually be dramatic irony.
Looks like Rudy is as hitched to Trump and vice versa, making an old war horse like Rudy a fall guy will bring them all down.
1
To sum up: President Trump engineered an end run around the State Department and put his private, personal attorney in charge of an amateur night in Dixie attempt to extort a foreign government into helping him in his re-election bid, hoping the lawyer would keep him just out of legal reach and/or use attorney-client privilege to keep illegal and unethical actions secret forever. But don’t worry, the Attorney General says the President can’t be investigated and can’t be charged with any crimes anyway.
Richard III was right.
That photo of Mr. Giuliani reveals the essence of the man -- deeply angry, often petulant, easily roused when challenged or called to account, dismissive of those regarded as beneath him just as he is sycophantic to those above.
But not to be dismissed or taken lightly, ever, no matter how buffoonish he may sometimes appear. Most dangerous when cornered or wounded, when there's nothing left to lose.
Before tossing Mr. Giuliani under the bus, Mr. Trump would do well to reflect on Mr. Giuliani's character and on what Mr. Giuliani may know. Because Mr. Giuliani may be most dangerous of all when he feels betrayed.
4
I look forward to Trump throwing Giuliani under the bus by claiming he hardly knows the man. Perhaps my hopes are clouding my perceptions, but it seems to me the Republicans on the intelligence committee are laying the ground work for such action with their questioning of the witnesses.
5
I keep trying to imagine this time next year and what will have transpired during the intervening months. Will any of this make a difference in the outcome of the election? Will it all be noise and soon forgotten by a public weary of being outraged? Once Trump is impeached by the House, (and he certainly should be), I expect the trial in the Senate to be a swift exoneration of Trump (or at most a slap on the wrist) given that Mitch McConnell still holds all the cards there. At that point, Giuliani will either be under the bus or driving it. All will depend on the "insurance" Mr. Giuliani has. If Giuliani sees the bus headed his way, he will not go "gently into that good night".
This time next year we will either be looking forward to Thanksgiving with joy and true thankfulness, or the twilight of our nation will have deepened. Is there a Democratic candidate that is the "one"? Right now I am uncertain there is. All have good points, but right now none has broad general appeal save Joe Biden, but he does not hold up well in debate.
I wish Elizabeth Warren had softened her platform before she threw her hat in the ring. She is an inspired speaker, but my gut feel is the public wants relief and not a revolution at this point. First you must regain power to push for a paradigm shift in social change.
The photo of Giuliani captures his malevolence.
9
Good debating skills aren’t necessary in a president, but sound judgement and a good moral character would be a major plus after this nightmare.
1
@Parkerjp
I agree, but you have to get elected first.
I herad Giuliani speak at a conference while he was still mayor of New York. Very impressive, a politician with a vision.
A vision that has now narrowed to see only Trump's ambitions.
Sad.
2
Mr. Trump's challenge if he ever decides to dump Mr. Giuliani are twofold:
1. He has been asking absolute loyalty of those working for him. Then how could he be disloyal to Giuliani - throwing him under the bus - while he is demanding loyalty from everyone else? After all, Giuliani's only fault is that he has been an unrelenting fighter for Mr. Trump's interest; and,
2. Mr. Giuliani is not just Mr. Trump's personal lawyer. Given the extent of his involvement in Mr. Trump's political and non-political affairs, he should be recognized as Mr. Trump's consigliere. That was Michael Cohen's position before Mr. Trump disowned him. Now throwing his second consigliere under the bus, ensures that no one with sound mind would accept that position in future. And that will be creating a host of new problems for Mr. Trump, who has always relied on advice of others, on even minor issues.
3
Rudy definitely has information on Trump that Trump doesn't want out. While this info may keep Trump from trying to make Rudy a fall guy, it won't stop Rudy from ratting on Trump if the ie under his feet gets any thinner.
2
If MAGA = My Attorney Got Arrested, soon enough Rudy will make it plural = My Attorneys Got Arrested.
9
Rick Perry was working on a Ukraine deal because...? Maybe he was going to set up a stadium size prayer meeting to help Ukraine save itself from Giuliani.
5
@Jsbliv
Apparently, for many years, Mr. Trump has been interested in getting into the oil and gas business (please see 1). And Mr. Perry is Mr. Trump's Energy Secretary. It could be that Mr. Perry has been evaluating Ukraine's oil industry, in case Mr. Trump decides to "keep the oil" in exchange for providing US military aids to Ukraine.
1. Reuters Business News article: "How Russia sold its oil jewel: without saying who bought it", by Katya Golubkova, Dmitry Zhdannikov and Stephen Jewkes; January 24, 2017.
There has always been a segment of American culture that was fine with royal dominion, with the idea that monarchy knows best because they have the most jewels. This awful version of the GOP no longer supports either a democracy or a republic. They can’t because they know the demographics are against them. So that is why they blindly support a mad king and are perfectly fine with letting him do all their thinking.
Democracy is hard and requires constant work. The GOP thinks they are a members of the royal court no matter that they lack the jewels.
10
The real constituency of the GOP has more jewels than the Maltese Falcon. The rest are a Carney’s marks, gleefully following the signs to the egress.
So Rudy has insurance and a lawyer. Trump has insurance and lawyers. The rest of us work, raise families, pay taxes and deal with increased costs of living.
We deserve better than these clowns.
20
Before going down Rudy will take Trump with him. Two ageing amigos headed to jail.
5
Oh please, please, please.
Throw Rudy under the bus!
The entertainment value of Trump v Rudy would be immense.
And also: I would love to be fly on the wall when Sondland and Pompeo meet in Brussels tomorrow....awkward!
4
"Feed Giuliani to the mass transit system."
Ms. Collins, you brightened my day before the first paragraph. Thanks for that.
6
If Mr. Trump fires Mr. Sondland from his ambassador job for treason and disloyalty, shouldn’t Mr. Trump refund Mr. Sondland’s million dollar donation? After all, making a generous donation in exchange for a gig as ambassador is kind of a quid pro quo; therefore if Mr. Sondland loses his quo, he should get his quid back.
Off the subject, but how much to become ambassador to Tahiti? Asking for a friend ...
7
The cringy thing does make sense, after all. Well, dang, y’all! Who’d have thought that being woke meant waking up. Go figure.
3
Republicans elected Trump and got a Clinton scandal. Serves them right.
Why wouldn't all Americans have the good sense to feel the presence of corruption. Its layers of false narratives. We have heard this before. It is the cheaters and liars. Listen carefully. It has nothing to do w us and everything to do selling America to the highest bidder.
5
They are poor excuses for astute real Italian mafia types thrown under previous buses by the Kennedy clan in office.
The Rudy and trump are poor excuses for viable senior citizens .
They belong in Assisted living at Mar a Lago.
I dislike them a lot these days.
Vote for a woman president and see Lady Liberty smile.
1
I'm just waiting for Trump to say "I hardly know him" or "Rudy Who?".
10
Trump’s only real option to avoid being dragged under the bus himself is to shoot Rudy on 5th Avenue at high noon.
10
Soon, Giuliani will be back to saying that ‘truth isn’t truth.’
4
This was the day that Republicans for Trump were left eating their cheap ties
3
I must admit I grew to like, well not like, but not hate Sondland and the testimony he gave. He pulled no punches and named names unafraid The Stable Genius of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. might give him the boot.
After seeing all the groveling by Trump's staff and Republican House members led by Nunes it was refreshing to see masculinity resurface in the testimony of Lt Col Vindman and Sondland.
8
Rudy probably has the missing Russian tape from the Steele dossier!!
2
I think Rudy has tromped Trump. But what's another self-inflected wound?
2
Castor's pathetic cross of Sondland makes clear
that Rudy is on his way to being jettisoned by Trump.
Rs were totally unprepared for Sondland's blistering
account.
Sondland reduced the GOP defenses to rubble.
4
The administration looks like the Apple Dumpling Gang. So sad and dangerous at the same time.
3
Can you even begin to imagine how much dirt Giuliani has on Trump? How many documents? How many tapes? Trump wouldn't dare tromp Rudy.
4
Who wrote trumps sharpie notes today? Is that Trumps handwriting?
You cant make that up.
6
You can't throw Rudy under the bus, he is the bus.
1
"A reporter from The Guardian recently asked Giuliani about his under-the-bus prospects. Rudy said he had “insurance” that would protect him."
Hey Rudy, so thought Michael Cohen. Where is he now?
3
I listened carefully yesterday. Yes, Rudy is going to be flattened by bus wheels.
Sondland made it clear that 'everyone' knew that Rudy was orchestrating the entire corruption/server thing. It wasn't just him, Sondland. It wasn't even just the amigos, it was everyone, including most of the State Department. He was very, very, very careful never to say that Trump told him directly to do anything. It was all Rudy, and frankly nobody wanted to talk to Rudy, but hey, if the president says to 'talk to Rudy,' you have to talk to Rudy, right?
I believe in intelligence circles, or organized crime, take your pick, this would fall under 'plausible deniability.' Don't forget, all Trump ever said was 'talk to Rudy.' He probably just wanted them to get together to trade meatloaf recipes or something. We all know how the Donald just loves his meatloaf. Perfectly innocent.
Also, Trump spent almost half an hour screaming at the press corps that he wanted nothing, absolutely nothing, from Zelensky. Nothing. The wheels of the bus started going round and round right then and there.
So, the way I see it, this whole Bidens/Burisma/Ukrainian election hacking conspiracy theory they all ginned up is shortly going to become the brainchild of one and only one person: Rudolf Giuliani. Everybody else, including, apparently, the entire State Department, has already begun to channel Sargent Schultz of Hogan's Heroes: "I know nothing. Absolutely Nothing."
Good luck, Rudy.
5
I suspect that Lev and Igor will soon be able to fill the yard
with all of these fine completely sane Republicans.
And Rudy good luck in the shu.
1
How's that "surround myself only with the best and most serious people" workin for ya?
4
Designated pit bull and obfuscation agent Jim Jordan keeps reminding me of Giuliani, except that Giuliani is far more dangerous because he is even wackier and he has been empowered by the Don.
4
I think Donald should make Putin the fall guy. Oh, that would be too close to true.
1
"America's mayor"...ask the citizens who were under the thumb of that mayor what they think of him. As they say, "Hey America, ask the real New Yorkers about the bum!"
3
Here's how it ends: The unplanned Saturday afternoon trip to Walter Reed for some "tests," the first part of his annual physical, with the second half happening in February - this will be the beginning. He will have some "health issues" which will worsen. Rather than face the humiliation of losing at the ballot box, he will resign after being re-nominated and Mike Pence will step in with Nikki Haley as VP. They have a chance of beating the Dems unless people learn what an absolute idiot Pence is.
He will slink off to Mar-a-Lago and throw parties and play golf, leaving his children and Rudy to be indicted. Ah, if only...
4
Mr. Giuliani should have seen the writing on the wall when he signed up as Michael Cohen’s replacement in the role of “Trump’s Fixer.” Donald Trump chews such people up and spits them out like a wad of old bubble gum when they’re no longer of service. One suspects that like Mr. Cohen, Giuliani will be enjoying free room and board at Club Fed any day now.
Don’t expect our sympathy, Rudolph. Surely you knew better.
2
Mr. Giuliani functions as the first mate on the Ship of Fools. As such, he is highly expendable. Giuliani goes overboard, and the ship sails on....its delusional captain still in command.
2
The first indication that Giuliani had "lost his marbles" happened on Jan. 8, 2010, during an interview with George Stephanopoulos, on Good Morning America. Giuliani, joining Dick Chaney in the Republican attacks on President Obama's counter terrorist operations, said:
"We had no domestic attacks under Bush. We've had one under Obama,"
Yes, America's mayor, was the only American citizen to forget 9-11 !
It is easy to understand how Trump & Giuliani, get along so well but it just maybe time for Rudy to be "Bussed" !
1
I pray that Rudy stays. He's got a mouth like an alligator and no filter. Come to think of it, even if he goes, he's still got that mouth.
2
A dozen buses on top of Rudy wouldn’t be enough.
3
Every time I see a news video clip of Rudy defiantly pushing his Mad Hatter logic at us, of Trump raving his latest excuses, of Devin Nunes talking about ... well, anything, I foresee another book contract with yet another former White House inmate: Fifty Shades of Crazy.
2
Gail, from here on now, I will hold the image of "Trump's lapdog" in my brain as well as the Romney " dog on the roof of the car". Hilarious and oh so true.
every time i see Rudy, I think it's some character wearing a Rudy Giuliani mask
The look on Sondland's face during his testimony is that of a scared rat. Trump's face, shouting at reporters, is that of a totally guilty scared rat. Giuliani just looks like an ancient sewer rat still thinking he will survive his own hideousness. The rest of the Republicans supporting Trump are all infected with rat bite fever. May they all seek "treatment"at the ball and chain facility reserved for traitors to our Country, our People, our Constitution and our Morals.
In 2007 Joe Biden said of Rudy Giuliani - there's only three things he [needs] to make ... a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11 - an observation that turned Giuliani into a joke with a great punch line and may have more to do with inspiring his effort to get the Ukrainians to smear Biden than anything else.
3
Whatever Rudy was up to in Ukraine with his two thugs, there had to be money in it for Rudy. Serious money.
1
Indeed, Giuliani is the wackiest member of the Trump team of dunces, camp-followers, hangers-on, and has-beens.
As a token of good faith, throw Giuliani under the bus immediately! At the conclusion of the 2021 inauguration of the new President, have the the paddy wagons ready to haul off the co-conspirators in the Ukraine shakedown!
Rudy's "insurance" means he has the goods on Trump.
Rudy should be in jail. Very simple.
1
"Insurance that would protect him" -- Joking - probably not. Rudy had to have some type of leverage on Cadet "Sharpie" Bone Spurs. Absent that he would be completely absent from the White House and the Ukraine affair. Affair - ah - could be a possibility. Or, maybe there is a tape of the reputed "golden shower performance" in the Moscow hotel room. All roads lead to Vlad.
1
Wake up and smell the coffee republicans, the Party’s almost over...
Vote-him-out
Vote-him-out
Vote-him-out
Vote-him-out
Vote-him-out
(Repeat and repeat)
1
Why would Trump throw Giuliani under the bus? I'm sure he barely knows the guy.
2
Wasn't Rudy the guy who located NYC's Emergency Services IN the Twin Towers? Which had been a terrorist target ten years before? His track record never was all that good...
If trump tosses Rudy under the bus,that's okay because Rudy's claws'll latch on tight and drag down the Don, too. Plenty more room under that clown bus.
The more, the merrier!
1
Rudy Giuliani's "insurance" against being thrown under the bus by his White House client, is karma in action. Recall Donald's obsessive, almost gleeful, repetition of the "insurance" comment by FBI agent Strock (sp?) to a co-worker, as his proof of the Deep State conspiracy against him, and used as fodder by Fox News to justify support for the Russia supported Electoral College, "duely elected", president.
Donald never appointed Rudy to his administration, for fear of being over-shadowed by the nation's 911 hero. Donald does not tolerate being over-shadowed. It makes him feel weak. It makes him feel like a loser.
Before Trump throws Rudy under the bus, he has to clear what’s left of Michael Cohen from the front grille.
First sign will be Donald Trump running to the helicopter with a cardboard with “Rudy who, I hardly know him” written in sharpie.
I think your next column should return to the Secretary of Energy, who was one of those 3 "amigos" (sic). He and his friends seem to have made good side deals with energy companies in Ukraine while this little blackmail scenario was in play.
I am sure that he will soon be one of those poor unfortunates that the #PLIC hardly knows.
2
Rudy did it is the ultimate Republican out. They have cycled through the following:
1/ Trump didn't do it.
2/ Everybody does it anyway.
3/ Trump was just kidding.
4/ Even if Trump did it it was not impeachable.
5/ It would be better for the American people if we didn't impeach Trump but handled it "internally."
Finally,
6/ Rudy did it.
3
Joe Lieberman is no John McCain. Figures that he would end up lobbying for China. Make no mistake, a Chinese telecom company is the Chinese government. What a complete sell-out.
I hope he still doesn't have that Bobby Kennedy picture on the wall of his office; Joe has failed miserably over the years to live up to those aspirations.
6
@Shef Amen to that
From the beginning of this whole mess, I had the feeling that Trump, while supporting Rudy, was happy to sit back and have everything that happened in the Ukraine placed at Rudy's feet. He is Trump's out. He is the scapegoat. At first it was subtle and now, not so subtle. He is being painted as the boogieman. He did everything. He gave the orders. And Trump walks. Well Rudy is indeed a bad guy, in my opinion (and I never thought of him as America's Mayer-especially after his oppressive regime - and don't start with 9/11, I was there. My building was on fire with, I am told, City owned gas storage tanks takes in it and we never got instructions to evacuate). But he was taking orders and the person giving the orders was Trump. They should both be suffering a penalty. Trump will try his best to put everything on Rudy. Did I mention that Rudy went to my High School - yup! Oy!
3
Two men who could without a doubt bring the President down: Vladimir Putin and Rudy Giuliani. It might not be years away, but there's a story to tell, and some fine journalist is going to work hard and tell the story. What a read that will be.
1
@Mary Ann - Great story for an opera. Rudy loves opera.
1
The most interesting (but perhaps not surprising) thing to come out of this impeachment process is the extent to which the GOP is now the wholly owned party of Trump. Trump's hold over the GOP is absolute.
I have not seen or heard even one GOP politician say or do anything to suggest they will not go to the mattresses for Trump, whatever is revealed or proven. They have all supported him unequivocally - no matter what comes out. To the GOP, His Word is infallible . His Word alone is beyond reasonable doubt and everyone else is a lying, deep state, traitor - that he "hardly knew"
Think about that. He has absolute control of His party.
It is funny to suggest Trump should stomp Rudy. It is chilling to think the GOP machine is now absolutely controlled by Trump.
3
Trump is Lucy with the football. If Lucy had TNT charged football and was kneeling at the edge of the Grand Canyon.
Is/was Guiliani employed by the US Government or by Donald Trump? Seems a pretty important distinction, yes? Not sure how to distance yourself from your personal lawyer. At least not after the fact.
1
"Rudy said he had “insurance” that would protect him."
I imagine the premium on that policy comes pretty dear.
1
Throw him under the bus. Don't throw him under the bus. Quid pro quo. No quid pro quo. Trump directed it. Trump didn't direct it. Sondland said what he knew. He talked to so many people he can't remember who said what to whom. Impeachable. Not impeachable. Criminal. Not. It is absolutely amazing to me that very clearly Republicans and Trump's base don't care what Trump did. Don't care if it was right. Don't care if it was wrong. This is what the base sees as the Clintons got away with and no matter how much of a mess Trump makes, they simply want the score evened. The problem with this approach is no matter what the Clintons did or did not do, the people were in place who made sure the trains ran on time and we embraced our friends and held our enemies at arms length. This is a game of Jenga. With the Clintons, someone was always there to rebuild the tower. With Trump the game is demolished and everyone who could put the tower back up now is either vilified or wants no part of building it up so they can watch it be destroyed again. And the base doesn't care as long as their guy gets away with it. Down the road they will care. But it will always be someone else's fault.
1
"Rudy said he had “insurance” that would protect him." That's why Trump can't throw Rudy under the bus even though he might like to.
Rudy and Trump deserve each other. Imagine the tweetfest that will ensure when their relationship is severed as you know it will....nobody gets out of the Trump foxhole without being tainted. I foresee all caps invective on Twitter, more deranged rants on Fox, and the congressional Republicans trying to explain it all away....nothing to see here folks, keep on moving....
3
Would this whole story sell well as a novel? Or would it just be dismissed as ridiculous and unbelievable?
While we obsess over this maniac in the WH, little things like climate change, rampant bigotry, unequal sub-standard education, over priced healthcare, an out of control big spending GOP conspire to move us to 3rd world status.
Wake me. It can't be real.
2
Rudy IS Trump's Thanksgiving dinner with the prayer: "Thank you, Lord, for the meal of which we are about to partake - if it will only stop grinning". Amen
He’s not joking.
From his appearances, Giuliani appears to be losing his marbles, but keeping “insurance” on a Trump? You bet. He’s not nuts enough to trust Trump.
And, after all, kompromat, excuse me, “insurance,” certainly seems to have done Putin a world of good with Trump. As Pelosi said, with Trump, all roads lead back to Russia. Why? I was skeptical at first, but now it seems clear to me that there is a lot of “insurance” around, and plenty seems to be in a safe in the Kremlin.
Who knew that the “insurance” industry would be so important in this White House?
I will read any Gail Collins article related to Giuliani for the inevitable recitation of Giuliani’s decision “to put the city’s emergency command center into the already-bombed-once World Trade Center”, as well as his personal peccadilloes. It just cannot be repeated enough.
Why this man has any personal, political or actual capital is as vexing a question as why the Kardashians are billionaires.
Kudos, Gail!
4
I think the Democrats need to show the Sopranos, Donnie Brasco, The Godfather, Good Fellows, Casino, etc and show how the Mafia works. That the boss doesn't directly tell somebody to do something, he tells his underlings, with a coded message and a wink, do that. And, we all know how much Trump loves the mafia types. If, the Democrats can show how the mafia works, and Trump's love affair with being like a mafia Don, it would help seal how Trump uses his code to get things done. And, Rudy, who prosecuted a lot of mafia cases knows the code, too.
3
Yes, Rudy deserves his place under the bus but we can credit him for the renewed focus on a young ally—Ukraine—fighting the key battle against our adversary, Russia. Putin is feeling confident these days with his lapdog in the White House. The best outcome of all of this would be a renewed, bipartisan commitment by the U.S. to do all it can to block Russia from swallowing up Ukraine.
1
It was obvious a month ago that Giuliani would be a fall guy. The question is whether he will accept that fate, whether the Liar in Chief will pardon him, and how much more tawdry the whole affair can get.
And just remember, this is just ONE part of the impeachment probe.
I’d love to see Trump get so desperate he tries to throw Rudy under the bus because I’m sure Rudy has lots of “insurance” and knows from experience how to use it to get a deal for himself, while throwing Trump under a fast moving train.
1
The only way to handle today’s world is with irony, sarcasm, – humor of every sort.
Unfortunately, Gail Collins, like the other Republican minded members of the GOP NY Times, has limited ability as a political analysts.
Gail: After cashiering sound advisors like Mattis and Kelly, an replacing them with yes men, and yes women, what sense does it make to say that Trump should push Giuliani under the bus?
Trump should be pushed under the bus by Congress, and everyone of his henchman and lacks should similarly be pushed under the bus by Congress.
So sad to see the NY Times Republicanized, so that the opinion leader of the Democratic Party cannot think well or straight, but is a mealy mouthed, appeaser.
@Iced Tea-party
I think you should read Ms. Collins' columns more...then maybe you'd know what you're talking about.
Generally, she speaks tongue and cheek. She knows Trump did the whole 'quid pro quo' thing. She also knows that somehow he's still in office after three years because he slimes his way out of everything. Manafort is in jail, Trump is not. Cohen is in jail, Trump is not. He's untouchable while his cohorts in crime are in jail.
Here, she's suggesting that Rudy will be the fall guy and once again Trump will get off.
Just read a few more of her columns--you'll get it. She's one of the least GOP'd opinion writer on staff.
Should Trump tromp Rudy?
You mean, should he throw Rudy under the bus?
Well, of course Trump is going to throw Rudy under the bus.
Trump throws EVERYBODY under the bus, eventually.
Trump will throw Don Jr., Melania, Jared, Ivanka - all of them, if he feels that it will save him.
Trump cares for no one - except himself.
Rudy's time, has just not come.
Yet.
3
Look at the picture. Is that the face of someone who goes under a bus quietly? Trump doesn't know much, but he knows his mugs and yeggs very well. Collins just wants Rudy under the bus so he starts singing like a canary, see. It's diabolical and twisted, and I agree.
Trump knows that Rudy has “insurance” on Trump. I’m thinking that the insurance is not just in regards to the Ukrainian issue. I wonder if Rudy knows about Putin’s kompromat on Trump? Maybe Rudy knows where some of the Trump organization’s dead bodies are buried?
1
Rudy says he has insurance. Hard to be pardoned if the pardoner is no longer in office.
Gail is "perfect" today. She has said all one needs to know about the hearings except one thing: what's up with J. Jordan in a shirt, no jacket or tie? Purposeful disrespect?
Until the end of your article I thought you had forgotten about Rudi's "insurance". Although his lawyer instantly came up with the "joking" excuse both the lawyer's remark and Rudi's should be seen as one of a well planned piece.
No, Rudi wasn't joking. What he was doing was providing a very public warning to Trump and his cronies all of whom planned the Ukranian shakedown. A shakedown which testimony indicates started at least as far back as May 2019 with Pompeo's removal of Abassador Marie Yovanovich from Ukraine "on the next plane".
Rudi has shown publicly that he preserves self serving evidence, his "insurance". Recall him holding an email message up to the TV cameras.
If Rudi goes down, possibly not Trump, but the cronies at least go with him.
It won't be easy to throw Rudi under the bus.
1
Absolutely correct, J Marin. That “joke” was a warning to Trump & Co. no doubt in my mind!
1
trump down, pence going down, yay Nancy Pelosi for
President.
2
Maybe Trump can just say he hardly knows Guiliani.
1
The likes of Bolton and others refusing to testify are putting the country through such stress. Shame on them. Self serving people lacking in integrity.
1
Trump can't throw Rudy under the bus because Rudy has the goods on Trump like no one else.
2
Author should be ashamed of herself, making fun,holding up to ridicule Rudolph GIULIANI,"America;s Mayor,"who did so much to clean up corruption in New York--remember the underworld figures who ran the Fulton Fish Market-- drive the squeegee folks from the streets,denounce anti Christian paintings of "denomme" Apelthorpe,and behaving courageously after 9/11 was an inspiration to all New Yorkers. Could not have been more proud of him, and when in June 1994, before hundreds of thousands at City Hall introduced the team that had just won the Stanley Cup as "OUR New York Rangers,"well, I am on the verge of tears every time I think of that moment,
Recall many times RG would descend with his "equipe,"aides from Gracie Mansion to UES to meet and greet,and the sincerity of the man showed through.John Avalon, commentator on CNN, was GIULIANI's main speechwriter by the way, and he was also amiable to passers by. Re impeachment hearings,even before I knew she was a Republican, I was favorably impressed by Congresswoman Stefanik.She has a great future.ABH is disappointed that you have not written on the unfairness of the hearings, in which Cong.Schiff, supported by Hollywood,Silicon Valley donors, gets to choose which witnesses G0P can call to testify, and behaves so imperiously that he turns voters off.Regrettable that you have not chosen to comment on his overbearing behavior. If Schiff's goal was to change hearts and minds, he has been a signal failure!
"Did you ever get an order directly from Michael Corleone, Mr. Cicci?"
Any student of mob movies knows that the people in charge always insulate themselves from they guys getting their hands dirty (and this rarely works). And in this case, as Mr. Sondland made pretty clear yesterday, that insulation is Mr. Giuliani, who is one of the rare few who could directly and personally implicate Trump- and his "insurance" is the receipts.
Based on Rudy's comment, he learned the lesson that Michael Cohen did not: Cohen allowed the implied orders to remain implied, and he was merely the guy in charge of paying off porn stars. Giuliani seems to be in charge of the more seditious matters, and it would appear that his involvement was more judiciously archived, if he is to be believed. So Trump will stand by him for as long as possible, until he has to portray Rudy as a rogue agent, and then all bets are off.
The challenge for both of them is if this legal pachinko machine ends up with Rudy sitting in front of a committee under oath. At that point, the house of cards comes down. The question is who else comes down with it.
The picture with this column makes it look like Giuliani's next move will be to pull out an umbrella with a black and white spiral on it that exudes purple hypnosis-gas while penguins dance across the stage to do his bidding, all while telling us this is all "totally, supremely, ingeniously, normal, nothing to see here".
Rudy and Donald are both cut from the same cloth. They are both sly, cunning, of questionable character, and out of their element in federal affairs. Rudy is no 007, and Donald is not the man from Uncle. In fact, wasn’t Rudy caught using his shoe phone to call Donald? Oh, sorry, that was a cell phone. But why quibble? Both of those amateur provocateurs are in very hot water and appear to deserve each other. Considering their characters (or lack of as the case may be), which do you think will turn on the other first? Now that would make some tv series!!!
1
Speaking of lindsey graham, how is he going to continue to defend trump when everything he said he hasn’t heard has now been stated in detail?
Is he deaf?
Well, I guess he may actually be senseless.
Resign lindsey!
2
I tend to look at small things and let them bother me.
Our Representative from Utah, C Stewart, denigrates a decorated COMBAT veteran for his uniform and his medals adn decorations. But he wears a little tiny set of pilot wings on his lapel. Now, I am glad Stewart had some fun flying jets on our dime for many years, but he never flew a COMBAT mission. Just another jet jock in peace-time service. Yup, a real hero!
Trump and Giuliani wear petit America flags on their lapels. I suggest we mail them a box full of Russian flags to display instead, since clearly they are in thrall to Putin.
If you are a real American patriot, you don't need the lapel pin, you've got the real deal; your personal honor and self-respect.
Don't forget Pompeo, that failed example of a military man gone wrong.
1
"Graham is Donald Trump’s lap puppy." No, he is Trump's Preparation H. "Rudy said he had “insurance” that would protect him." Yes, a presidential pardon.
On to the big picture:
1) US intelligence agencies, US military and NATO determine a secure Ukraine is critical to US and European security. They conclude Ukraine is a front-line defense against Russian aggression and commit to provide military assistance to help Ukraine resist a Russian invasion - an active war - and contain further Russian aggression.
2) US foreign diplomats following US foreign policy, work to combat corruption in Ukraine, validate Ukraine is in deed doing that and has made enough progress to warrant military assistance and a high profile Oval Office visit for the new Ukrainian president.
3) Donald Trump, scared of Joe Biden, sends Rudy to Ukraine to work with known corrupt officials to manipulate the new president into announcing investigations of the Bidens in exchange for the desperately needed military aid and Oval Office visit.
4) Trump denigrates and threatens the honorable US ambassador to Ukraine, pushes the Rudy agenda and holds up military aid and Oval Office visit pending President Zelensky doing him a "favor" - a public announcement of investigations of the Bidens.
5) A whisleblower shouts alarm. Democrats begin to investigate.
6) Republicans tell the country that Democrats are running a circus, making a mockery of our democracy instead of doing the people's business.
Who to believe???
The person you label a nerd bravely and correctly called out, in the face of the Republican committee members, Putin as the one behind the false claim of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election. He also said he would be killed if he did the same in Russia. If that's being a nerd, then we need more nerds in Washington.
Rudy is just a Trump toady. And an unpaid one at that. Getting rid of him will not satisfy anyone other than those whose primary goal is to see Rudy humiliated, rather than Trump being out of the White House as soon as possible.
1
Rudy's "I've got insurance" was for his own assurance in that he wanted to publicly remind the Trump machine of its limits.
Gail...this is truly hilarious. Thanks for bringing some fun to an otherwise ghastly affair. What might readily have been an all-black funeral for American democracy now feels a bit more like a rollicking proper Irish wake. Pass the whisky and let's hear some more "remember when" stories from another of our besotted patriarchs.
Re: "....about his under-the-bus prospects. Rudy said he had “insurance” that would protect him."
You hear this and think it's like dialogue from a gangster movie or film noire piece.
Totally agree with Fred! Rudy has something very, very juicy and incriminating on trump just like their buddy putin. It's a matter of who is more afraid.
Who goes first - Stephen Miller or Rudy? My bet is neither.
I just keep thinking of that little proverb, “When thieves fall out honest men come by their own.”
There’s quite a den of thieves in the WH at present and they have certainly allowed people like Lt. Col Vindman and Ambassador Yovanovitch to come into their own. Kudos to them!
A different childhood poem also comes to mind the ending of which as I recall goes, “The truth about that dog and cat is this - they ate each other up!”
Happy Thanksgiving!
I take umbrage at your description of Lieutenant Colonel Vindman as “nerdy.”
If growing up motherless in a foreign country, serving courageously in our military and bravely facing hostile questioning by Republicans is evidence of nerdiness, let us all aspire to that description.
Is it just me or is "insurance", when used as a threat (or counter-threat) something you'd rather expect in a mafia or organized crime context instead of the White House?
it must be nice to have a fixer. Someone to do your bidding whether legal or not. Trump's previous fixer is currently locked up. Generally one would think that if you discover the guy before you went to jail, you would be more careful, but alas that is not rudy is it. What makes a person decide that being a fixer is worth going to jail or personal destruction?
I hope rudy feels it was worth it...the greyhound horn is blowing......
Trump’s history is one of throwing his minions to the under the nearest bus to secure his own getaway. Given that, I have to wonder what fundamental mental flaw exists in so many right wingers that, for every flattened minion, there is another sad loser eager to take his place. I would like to think that the minions have just enough moral conscience to realize that they they deserve punishment and therefore seek it out, but there is no evidence of even rudimentary moral development among Trump’s herd.
“‘I am a proud part of the three amigos,’ Sondland said during his testimony.”
They could more aptly be described as “The Three Musketeers” (at least in the beginning) - “one for all and all for Trump.”
If Trump throws Rudy under the bus, it's going to be "Guiliani what? I don't even know the guy?"
Rudy is the new Michael Cohen, the go between on all things sleaze so trump can claim he knows nothing. By the way as a life long NYer I don't have such great memories of Rudy as mayor. The one thing that stands out for me is his news conference in front of Gracey Mansion where he announced to the world, and his then wife, he was divorcing her. Really a classy guy!!!!!
1
The walking, talking Dead.
Seriously.
2
Trump's pardon is already written for rogue globe-trotter Rudy. They just have to wait until after the Senate fails to convect.
Rudy's got second place. Mulvaney's got first for admitting he was "directed" to freeze the funds. But buses have many wheels and Trump, apparently, owns an entire fleet.
1
Quickly. "Graham is Donald Trump’s lap puppy." No he is Trump's bidet. "Rudy said he had “insurance” that would protect him." Yes a presidential pardon.
On to the big picture:
1) US intelligence agencies, US military and NATO determine a secure Ukraine is critical to US and European security. They conclude Ukraine is a front-line defense against Russian aggression and commit to provide military assistance to help Ukraine resist a Russian invasion - an active war - and contain further Russian aggression.
2) US foreign diplomats following US foreign policy, work to combat corruption in Ukraine, validate Ukraine is in deed doing that and has made enough progress to warrant military assistance and a high profile Oval Office visit for the new Ukrainian president.
3) Donald Trump, scared of Joe Biden, sends Rudy to Ukraine to work with known corrupt officials to manipulate the new president into announcing investigations of the Bidens in exchange for the desperately needed military aid and Oval Office visit.
4) Trump denigrates and threatens the honorable US ambassador to Ukraine, pushes the Rudy agenda and holds up military aid and Oval Office visit pending President Zelensky doing him a "favor" - a public announcement of investigations of the Bidens.
5) A whisleblower shouts alarm. Democrats begin to investigate.
6) Republicans tell the country that Democrats are running a circus, making a mockery of our democracy instead of doing the people's business.
Who to believe???
Rudy Who? I hardly know the guy. I don’t even know if he’s still working for me since I never pay him.
1
Collins's assistance in translating Sondland's "Trump-speak" had me laughing more than any time since Trump was inaugurated.
Bravo column Gail. Reads well beside Noah Eiland summary column today.
Sorry, but I believe it's insulting to compare Chevy Chase to Rick Perry. The latter only needs to play himself. He's even dumber than Trump and that's saying something.
2
Who was financing Rudy’s “work”? His Soviet associates, Lev and Igor, was he paying them or were they paying him? And in either circumstance, why.
1
Giulianni is a mob lawyer first and foremost. He knows where all Trump's bodies are buried, and the calculus involved in tossing Giulianni would give us a strong hint that Trump and his band of criminals are desperate and have no other options.
If this happens, it is the absolute clearest sign that even the dim witted, self delusional president has gotten the message that his misdeeds, lack of morals, and dumbness has gotten him into a mess that he can't buy or sue his way out of.
We should start connecting the dots between Rudy and Donald as something foul smelling, like rotten fish. What story they have have to hide between themselves in order for the president protect him so much? Alas, is Rudy's " insurance " the answer?
"If you don't have a sense of humor, it just isn't funny." Wavy Gravy, Merry Prankster Emeritus
Has anybody heard anything from the so called president since he was seen at Walter Reed? It seems unusual for the White House to be so twitter free while all this good stuff is blowing up.
Gail, you had me right up until that cheap shot at the movie "Three Amigos." So-bad-it's-good! Come on, take it back.
That was a classic, right up their with "Cat Ballou" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum." Okay, maybe not quite in their class, but close, and far superior to "Blazing Saddles."
"Almost everybody has come to realize how horrible Rudy is[.]"
There are those who saw that Giuliani is horrible from his first foray into public life. Most African-American New Yorkers who endured Giuliani's race-baiting mayoralty regard his current job of Trump's bagman as inevitable, given either man's lack of anything resembling a moral compass.
I remember seeing Rudy's quote "I've got insurance." I knew then it meant he has enough dirt on Donnie to bury him hundreds of feet deep. And Donnie has the same "insurance" on Rudy. They deserve each other and I hope someday they will be cellmates fighting over who gets the bottom bunk.
Just a thought, I wonder if all these conniving back-stabbers could figure out a way throw each other under the bus?
I’m holding out for Trump’s signature claim: “Rudy Giuliani? I barely know the guy.”
1
Just can’t wait to hear Trump say “ I barely know the guy.... But I hear he’s a pretty good guy.”
1
Can we talk more about the other two Giuliani amigos? Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, the proud owners of Fraud Guarantee, who gave $325k to the Trump campaign in 2016, and we’re hanging out with Rudy in Ukraine spraying dirt on Marie Yovanovitch. What is their role in all of this? Trump was aware of the relationship between Giuliani and the Russian amigos: was he, or Tump junior, to benefit financially from their dealings in Ukraine, that necessitated the removal of the anti corruption US ambassador.
Of course, any New York City guy named Rudy Giuliani would have "insurance" to protect him. And his lawyer will always tell you, "He's joking." But no one should be laughing.
Giuliani as "New York's finest mayor" or "America's mayor" is a load of nonsense. What did he do after that tragic day? One thing he did was exaggerate his importance. Ask NYPD and NYFD.
I hope he does turn on Rudy Gail. Because Rudy has real good insurance.
Rudy has been leading with his chin for quite a while. According to statistics and probability he’s due.
Gail:
Why are we debating Trump's strategy? Can we not focus on the issue of how to ease the tensions that, ideologically, are precipitating hostilities in Ukraine between Russian and American oligarchs?
3
Man, I sure am getting tired of the phrase "throw xyz under the bus," although I wouldn't mind seeing Rudy wrapped around an axle.
Yeats could do better. Charlie Brown could do better.
6
Trump can't turn on Rudy because Rudy knows where the bodies are buried. Rudy could decide to testify. Executive privilege would not apply because Rudy was Trump's personal lawyer, not a government employee. Attorney-client privilege would not apply because it does not apply to conspiracies to commit crimes. Not even Trump loves a microphone more than Rudy. If Trump throws him under the bus, Rudy will sing like a Met Opera tenor.
37
"Trump’s aides have presumably figured out that making fun of embattled public servants or Purple Heart recipients is not going to pay off." But mocking Col. Vindman's threads at the hearing was a real howler, not to mention a highly relevant and salient point to the impeachment hearings.
As for Batman's nemesis, the Joker, throwing him under the bus, train, subway or just dropping him like a brick from 33,000 feet seems pointless. He has already wreaked a tornado path of constitutional discombobulation wherever he has gone. He can continue his lawyering from under his damp rock, but the damage has been done.
Guiliani behaves like a rabid escapee from a 24/7 continuous care maximum security facility, but the figure who hired him as his representative soldiers on heedless and unhinged, bone spurs and all.
11
I'm still baffled by Rick Perry's role in all of this. What is the Secretary of Energy doing as a member of the so-called "three amigos"? Is it possible that this whole affair involved more than just getting dirt on Biden--perhaps also getting a secret interest in Ukrainian gas deals for Giuliani, Perry, and perhaps even Trump? If not, then why Perry?
22
@Alan Perry isn't very smart, so he is a go-along guy that can be discarded when the time is right and he wouldn't know he had been used as cover. He clearly knows that the river is rising and based on his hand wringing prayer at a cabinet meeting the other day, I would say he's feeling the heat.
2
@Alan Perhaps that's the hidden allusion in Bolton's comment about Rudy's "drug deal" in the Ukraine.
Hmmm. Thanks.
Am I the only one who finds the unfolding Trump-Giuliani-Sondland saga slightly—not entirely, but slightly—reminiscent of Iran-Contra and Reagan-North? North served as Reagan's lackey, doing the dirty work in a way designed to give Reagan "plausible deniability" (well, it was plausible only if you were rabidly partisan). Here, Trump says "I want nothing" of Ukraine—but "talk to Rudy," who does the dirty work, setting up plausible deniability (again, for the rabidly partisan). It's just too bad there wasn't a Sondland back during Iran-Contra.
During Iran-Contra, anyone with an open mind could see through the setup (I say that having voted for Reagon myself once, a fact for which Reagan's own actions drove me to feel shame). This time, before today, anyone with a truly open mind could see through the setup. But after today, even if you have an only *slightly* open mind, Sondland should have connected enough dots for you to see how the "boss" was operating the system.
(I just shared this elsewhere, but it's even more appropriate in Gail's fine column.)
5
Blame it all on Rudy? How about Putin, who has been lurking around the edges of the impeachment hearings and who also had the president's ear and has designs on Ukraine.
Americans critically need to know what has transpired between Trump and Putin in his unmonitored discussions with the Russian autocrat. Talk all you want about the importance to American national security of supporting Ukraine; the biggest threat to American national security right now is Putin's hold on Trump.
How do we find out what went on in those meetings? Do the American people have any rights to find out whether or not we are being sold out for a tower in Moscow?
10
for Julie M at the Jersey shore, Robinson Jeffers seems more on appropriate today...
"keep a straight mind
in the evil time,
in the mad-dog time.
Why may not an old man run mad?
History falls like rocks in the dark.
All will be worse confounded soon."
5
I think the time to blame Rudi has passed. Rudi needs to step up and ask and beg and crawl to be blamed, so that Trump can continue.
1
Forget the bus, roast the Turkeys for Thanksgiving, basted with au jus Nunes and Jordan relish.
6
@Prunella they are more like gizzard liver and neck..
1
When you take away the circus, there are a couple of things that should impel us to change this congress: we have a president currently in place who has placed himself above all our laws (and is thumbing his nose at us); we have a credible threat to our democracy from external forces including the leaders of the Russian Federation.
2
I avoid listening to him, but today I made a donation to oppose Devin Nunes. His twisting of the truth is of the simple kind.
He just takes the words and reverses their meaning. Somebody makes a good point, he borrows and corrupts it.
He could be first among equals for hypocrisy. Amazing performance, not an original or an honest statement in any of his assertions.
24
If Trump turns on Rudy the country will witness a New York street fight like no other. Rudy will not go quietly.
7
It’s a sad commentary that the best thing that ever happened to Rudy Giuliani was 911. Otherwise, his life story would only be about a man with a once-promising career who fell into a downward spiral of arrogance, marital infidelity, and grifting on an industrial scale.
His reputation as a ‘hero’ of 911 is as much about the leadership vacuum of George W. Bush and the media’s need to find someone to craft a positive story line around following the attack as it was just the chance of him being mayor that day.
Giuliani’s career is going to close with him being right at the center of the most corrupt presidency in history, eagerly aiding and abetting Trump and anyone else willing to hire him. He’s a cautionary tale of greed, ambition, narcissism, and moral blindness.
It’s a sad commentary on America and humans in general that people like him and Trump rise as far as they do. The problems with Giuliani - as with Trump - have been apparent for years to anyone willing to look beyond the public image. But then, why does anyone enter into an abusive relationship? It says as much about us as them.
Goodbye Rudy. Hope you and your boss look good in Orange.
8
At some point, the GOP will come to the conclusion that defending Trump is futile, that Trump is not deserving of their efforts and that Trump will damage their party for years to come. Time to cut bait and run.
Soon, three of Trump's closest friends, Stone, Cohen, and Giuliani will be in jail for corruption. Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you WHAT you are.
5
The impeachment drama is fascinating--since I work from home now, it's also enormously distracting. Every time Jim Jordan takes a turn at interrogation, I'm reminded of Bill Hader taking his role in the "Saturday Night Live" parody, shouting "I'm so mad I won't wear a jacket!" He and Nunez spout such ludicrous rationales and accusations that they're almost too outrageous for parody. Giuliani, on the other hand, was made for parody, as is Stephen Miller. (Both would make excellent vampires.) Oh for the good old days, when most of us considered Giuliani the worst New Yorker in the news.
3
My dad has been dead for close to ten years. The downfall of Rudy might be the thing that brings him back!
1
Let's not forget that the House impeachment inquiry is akin to a grand jury. You need an amount far short of unanimity to indict (impeach). In the Senate you need an amount far short of unanimity (2/3) to convict, so no part of this process resembles a criminal trial. Other than in an impeachment trial the only time the Chief Justice presides over a trial is when the dispute is between two states.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in 1869, the year after Andrew Johnson had survived conviction by one vote in the Senate, that when you strike at a king you must kill him.
No Republican senator who might consider figuratively killing the king will even hint at it until he/she is sure the votes are there.
Rudy is an irrelevant sideshow whose appearance would only serve the House Republicans' efforts to make this a circus.
Throughout Trump's business and personal life he has always relied on righthand men that Giuliani, himself, has called "fixers" like Michael Cohen. Michael Cohen testified that before he got indicted the plan was for him to follow Trump to Washington, presumably to be Trump's fixer there. Cohen had even flown to Moscow to meet with Kremlin officials, presumably on Trump's behalf regarding the Trump Moscow Tower project.
Which brings me back to Giuliani. With Cohen in prison, Trump needed a new fixer to replace Cohen in Washington to, you know, fix things. Giuliani stepped in. This is the way Trump has always operated - outside the normal channels and instead through the backdoors, under the carpets and in the dark alleys. Trump has no use for career professionals that do not work for him, but instead for the government of the people, that he can intimidate and fire, if they do not follow orders.
Trump and Giuliani cooked this whole thing up. The Don and The Fixer.
8
We need to reverse Ms. Collins’ suggestion. (And move away from the transit metaphors.)
Bringing Trump to justice is like trying to drown an eel. 1. He keeps slipping from our grasp. 2. Eels don’t drown.
Perhaps the approach is to find a predator that eats eels. Raccoons eat freshwater eels. Hmm….
Let’s entice Rudy to talk about his boss. His bombast on talk shows often is more revealing than is good for his client. Give him a stage, wind him up, and let him talk and talk and talk.
Who knows what might come out? Could be interesting.
1
I imagine Rudy was joking. Under the bus. Insurance. Get it? That said, I don't think Trump will be throwing Rudy anywhere right now. I doubt they're even talking. Rudy is under federal criminal investigation. If he wasn't saying too much on TV already, his phones are probably tapped now. And not just by the Russians on WhatsApp. Giuliani is toxic at this point. Trump can't even get close enough to push him under.
Even if he could, he probably shouldn't. The last thing Trump wants is a disgruntled lawyer turning states evidence. I suspect the turn is coming eventually. The question is when. Perhaps when Trump loses reelection and Giuliani is serving time in federal prison without any hope for pardon? I don't know. We'll have to wait and see.
Rudy does have "insurance" just like Michael Cohen did. The difference is that Rudy would use his "insurance" whereas Cohen went to jail with his still intact. To this day, many believe that Michael Cohen has not told everything. Why Cohen did not use his information to shorten his jail time is his decision.
Rudy on the other hand has no intention whatsoever of going to jail. He would threaten to use his "insurance" for sure. There is plenty of time before Trump asks "Rudy who?".
2
People talk about how far Giuliani has fallen. So he gave a rousing "You can't defeat us!" speech after the 9/11 attacks. What else was he going to say? "We surrender!"?
It was a well-executed photo-op, but hardly an act of heroism.
2
Is there a significant distinction between Rudy Giuliani engaging in diplomacy and Jane Fonda engaging in diplomacy during Vietnam? Giuliani is an unelected civilian; so was Jane Fonda. Giuilani is the president's "personal lawyer." His client is Trump, not America. Jane Fonda was naive and idealistic. She went to Hanoi not on behalf of herself but, however misguided, to do what she could to end the war. Silly, yes. Self-serving? No.
1
Will the stable genius who picks only the best people rid himself of rudy and gordon and others he barely knew or never met? The guy probably has a few tricks up his sleeve so we're just gonna have to wait for his Houdini acts.
2
Despite the publicly seen erosion of Rudy’s mental faculties in the age of Trump and Twitter, it would be foolish to assume anything less than the following. Rudy knows the law, Rudy knows how governmental corruption, corporate leveraging and mafioso and prosecutors operate ( more than politics, a sport at which he has demonstrated ineptness ). There should be little surprise that Rudy probably knows more, much more, than Donald would ever want exposed. Pushing Rudy under the bus before January 2021 give Trump the chance to clear the decks and then pardon Rudy. The pardon being the offset for the taking the fall in the meanwhile. And, considering the other kompromat that the Kremlin likely holds over both these jokers, they will both retire into the background knowing that they would get even worse from Kremlin if they cross Vladimir after this sordid episode in US history.
Lesson to America: Don't elevate thrice married megalomaniacs like Trump, Giuliani and Gingrich to positions of power. Like their multiple marriages, they're apt to wreck the country too.
12
It's not quite clear yet exactly who else will throw whom under the bus, but since it appears inevitable, may I apply to be the driver?
6
I recall the Watergate hearings clearly, and at least Republicans eventually did the right thing.
What’s happening today is disheartening and disgusting.
And as much as I’d like to silently chuckle at Gail Collins’ essay, none of this is funny.
5
IMO Rudy does have “insurance” that will dissuade Trump from tossing him into traffic - and whatever he has on the president must be a humdinger, and at least as jaw-dropping as what Putin probably possesses.
Good ideas! I would also advise President Trump to throw Rudy under a convenient bus... only, slowly.
In order not to trigger any embarrassing clauses in Rudy's "insurance" policy, he should proceed with deliberation.
The first step, would be to deny knowing Giuliani. Well, maybe just barely -- he has seen the guy around the White House once or twice, he believes.
Next, he should give the man a nickname. "Rude Rudy", "Rueful Rudy", or maybe, "Human Wreckage".
If Rudy doesn't take the hint and wander off to spend more time with his grand kids, Trump can claim that Rudy had pocketed the check that Trump asked him to deliver to Zelensky to buy missiles.
Trump has thrown too many people under the bus for people to go quietly. I mean, really, if you were anywhere public transit and the commander-in-chief at the same time, wouldn't you start documenting every bit of evidence and have a clear plan for using it to at least take him with you?
I am more inclined to think of them in terms of my heros from childhood: Larry, Moe, and Curly. The Three Stooges were hysterical whenever they tried to function as plumbers and carpenters; or in any job that required intelligence or common sense. Rudy and company have the same level of incompetence, with similar outcomes.
Rudy Giuliani has been a thorn in Trumps side from day one he still is his personal attorney. Perhaps Rudy is still around because his antics, by comparison make Trump appear stable. Appearance being the operative word, be cause appearance is all Trump cares about.
Perhaps there is another reason why Giuliani has not been cut lose and that is because Rudy has dirt on Trump. No, not conspiracy theory dirt ( like Ukraine meddling) but actual REAL slimy dirt on Trump from his days in NYC. I can’t help but think that every time Trump considers cutting Rudy loose, Rudy goes on TV and does one of his infamous demented rants (compete with arm gestures and bulging eyes) giving the president a taste of what he might be in for if he crosses him. Michael Cohen was Trumps attorney out of sheer loyalty to Trump. I think Giuliani is Trumps attorney because Trump fears him.
“That is the same thing Ambassador Volker said yesterday,” Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, responded.
Wow--does this mean Nunes is actually listening to the witnesses?
Because his ranting responses have been otherwise tone deaf and seemingly from an alternate universe.
1
I’ve lived in NYC since 1980 - I’ve seen Rudy as a failing mayor who at 911 did a good job leading the city through the clean up - and NYC was very lucky to have Mr Bloomberg as our next mayor who lead our city out of bankruptcy and created clear goals for our city that are still making NYC better every day.
And I’ve watched Donald Trump lie to, or steal from, anyone dumb enough to let him.
Honestly, Rudy was a good mayor for NY. Unfortunately, he was - and continues to be - a terrible judge of character. Bernard Kerick proved that.
Trump could be videotaped shooting someone on Fifth Avenue. The video is then shown on national television. Trump would say it's a hoax, fake news, and 35% of the electorate would still believe him. The only reason Trump won't throw Giuliani under the bus is if he's afraid of what he knows- the same reason he never says anything negative about Putin. Trump is even more terrified of going to prison than he is of being impeached. Normally, Trump would have already turned on Rudy. That he hasn't is telling.
1
There is no doubt that Trump will turn on Rudy. Any Trump fixer has to know that is part of the job description. But, what is the insurance of which Rudy speaks? A presidential pardon after 202 election? Manafort is waiting for that, too.
1
Perhaps Giuliani has a copy of Trump's tax returns? As his personal atty, it's plausible that he would. Now THAT would be insurance....
Rudy will throw himself under a bus. We shouldn't waste energy waiting for our To-Be-Impeached in Chief to do it.
Instead, try to get him to toss Stephen Miller under the bus, or Mike Pompeo, or Mick Mulvaney. Go for a trifecta! I'd vote Miller, the most entrenched, as my top pick for Metrobus. He's lasted longer than most, maybe all, and that means he is long overdue.
One of the only benefits of Trump's combination of irrationality, temper and narcissism is that people, good and bad, around him don't last. One can hope for toxic enablers to fall on the wrong side of his temper. He can't pull a Henry VIII and decapitate his ex-advisors, but that might be mostly because he doesn't know its a historical precedent.
Metrobus it is.
1
I would love to know what the "insurance" is that Giuliani has. Could he know about Trump's connections to Putin, connections to Jeffery Epstein, Deutche Bank, the infamous tax returns, his expense accounts that he charges to we taxpayers. So much to choose from.
Come on Rudy, throw Trump under the bus before he does it to you.
1
Ah, but does the President's lawyer's lawyer have a lawyer of his own? How deep a bench is needed in this swirling rotting mess of an administration?
I don't know which one is worse Trump of Giuliani. And then there is Sondland of the $1,000,000 tax payer financed redecorating project. These guys are all making Ben Carson of the $35,000 dining table in his office, sound like piker.
But thanks for keeping us chuckling through this nightmare going on in Washington.
This is so starting to resemble the machinations of an infighting crime syndicate I keep waiting for someone to state that "it's time for him to sleep with the fishes".
Except this crowd doesn't chain a concrete block to the victim's feet and toss them overboard--they can't lift the block, for one thing. So they just let their shrill, malevolent, toady media outlets do it for them.
1
Giuliani has morphed into the type of person that he once prosecuted as a Federal prosecutor. His maliginant narcissism untether either by the boundaries of being a prosecutor or NYC mayor has been unleashed. Fueled in part by his fidelity to Trump and his underlying sense that he has been ignored since leaving office Rudy has gone full blown bonkers. Imagining himself to be the righteous warrior in Trump's court he lets everyone known that he is on the side of the angels. Talk about being deluded and living in an alternative reality. The photo of Rudy that Gail Collins Nov 20 opinion column has used sums up who Rudy really is- an individual who has is mad at the everyone and lost in own demented thoughts. The narrator at the begining of the 1970's TV show The Odd Couple intoned can 2 divorced men live together? The question that is now before is somewhat different-can two raging maligant narcissists, Rudy & Donald share the same world stage?
Forget the bus and the insurance. Trump is very close to what used to be called a nervous breakdown. In today’s parlance it’s a psychotic break. Haven’t we all noticed his blank stare and tendency to babble ad nauseum whenever he’s in front of a camera. His emergency checkup probably involved deciding which antipsychotic drug is best for him and the country. He is unraveling and destined to be removed on medical grounds. He may need emergency surgery soon for an acute “corrupture.” He is headed for the same result as Capt. Queeg in The Caine Mutiny. His ship wii sail soon without him.
One question has not been answered so far: why did President Trump come up with this bribery/extortion scheme? I think the answer is that he does not know better and that this is his way of “doing business”. Might have worked in the mob infested world of New York “developers” but has already been proven to be a colossal failure in several instances - North Korea included. Every villain in any gangster movie is depending supporting “characters” willing to execute his demands and shady lawyers are often a part of the team. They always fail when they start throwing each other under the bus. There is such a “team” right now in the White House and we are witnessing the last chapter of their story but the otherwise common “shootout” is now replaced with public humiliation and we are witnessing it live on TV....but it is sad and not so much entertaining.
Somehow I don't think Rudi's claim of "insurance"is a joke.
We need a different metaphor - the current one is too literally appealing.
Perhaps something with clown cars - the first thing that comes to mind every time the R's change their "stratergies"
Also, as much as I dream of trump in prison, I would be oh so thrilled with him retiring (in April?) to rescue his business "empire" and to more easily cheat at golf.
The Trump presidency is way beyond any rational discussion. Our president demands obsequious loyalty from those around him. Meanwhile, our president is loyal to those who either have dirt on him (Rudy, Putin, etc.) or have provided him with money (Saudis, Putin through oligarchs, etc.).
For November 3, 2020:
Give money to groups who support voting rights and registration and/or volunteer with these groups.
On January 20, 2021:
We can once again feel good about our president.
1
I don't believe Giuliani was joking about his "very good insurance".
My guess is that thanks to his good friends in the New York Police Department and his time as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, he knows far more about Donald Trump than anyone but Trump himself.
If Rudi "goes under the bus" don't be surprised if he takes Donald with him.
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@Fred
The one thing Rudy has is a big mouth. He won't hesitate to use it to help himself. Hence his insurance remark.
He wasn't joking he was warning. He'll do it and laugh the whole way.
Trump knows this and will throw Pompeo, Pence and everyone else under the bus first.
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@Fred Gosh, I hope so!
28
Rather like J. Edgar Hoover's files.
20
It is against the law for an American to bribe a foreign government official in order to do business in that country - some have gone to jail. Trump's bribery has been established without question. Now, was it illegal, ie. break election laws or some other law? What he did was bad for the country, and reflects another example of him trying to please Putin and get himself reelected at the same time. I hope the Democrat's have done their home work; it was ill and the path out of the white house is clear and straight with or without Republicans holding Trump's hand.
1
Yes, Schiff, take Trumps advice, "talk to Rudi".
4
"A reporter from The Guardian recently asked Giuliani about his under-the-bus prospects. Rudy said he had “insurance” that would protect him."
I hope Giuliani does have insurance. He shouldn't be crushed under a bus while Trump struts around the White House. A fitting end would be the two of them grappling to their just deserts at the bottom of a waterfall in the style of Holmes and Moriarty.
5
No, Donald will not throw Rudy under the bus.
" Rudy said he had “insurance” that would protect him."
He's probably telling the truth. Rudy's role is Donald's Consigliere , the holder of secrets and he is all to aware of this. At this stage in the impeachment inquiry, his testimony is not even needed.
The parade of honest and patriotic people who serve our national interest and have chosen ' to tell the truth and nothing but the truth' have confirmed a Quid Pro Quo.
Donald will not be impeached but, every day I grow more confident he'll loose in 2020.
3
Let me put it in Trump-speak. This Trump guy? He's not a good guy.
200
@jb Who described Rudy as "a little man in search of a balcony?" Jimmy Breslin? Well, he found one, but his audience appears to like him about as well as the Italians liked his historical analogue: Mussolini.
6
@jb He's bad news.
3
@jb
He's not a good guy. He's one bad hombre.
2
I expect that at some point trump will toss rudy to the greyhound now barreling through. it would be interesting to see what is behind his "insurance" comment
4
"The Republicans produced a diplomat who ... (fill in the blank): is supposed to be an expert on Ukraine, but was not sufficiently stimulated intellectually to do an internet search to learn what Burisma is, so he just let it slide.
Government incompetence? Government waste?
4
Well, the hearings are not exactly boring but definitely without the fun that their Watergate precursors provided. Much more consequential wrongdoing, a less amusing cast of witnesses and inquisitors (mostly dedicated civil servants, just doing their jobs, and presidential party hacks), and practically no suspense (unfortunately) as to how things will ultimately play out.
5
I think it’s quite refreshing that we have updated our form of government to allow un-elected, un-appointed private citizens to manage affairs of state. And that, even without benefit of brains, a form of life like Rudy, can so easily blackmail a president in order to gain this position.
Rudy under the bus? Does not apply. The now-crowded space under there is reserved for people who have an actual position in the government, not random weasels who can never be accused of acting on behalf of it.
Some of our astute readers will note that this sort of thing has happened before, and that even way back before Hearst claimed supremacy, foul beings held the reins, but Rudy! There’s novelty to this level of blatant action.
Besides, his ‘insurance’ is as good as trump’s isn’t.
10
@Marat1784 " a form of life like Rudy"? Random weasels? You should have your own column, especially if anyone remembers how much Rudy hates ferrets.
1
If Trump were to turn on Rudy it would be a wonderful operatic moment. I can`t wait for it.
43
We can only dream it will involve tiny hand slaps and hair pulling.
1
One more thought, Trump, taking lessons from Capo’s (organized crime syndicates) he learned to use intermediaries to carry out illegal acts. Layers of legal insulation could be employed such as ”no quid pro quo”. Talk to Rudy, Cohen, Manafort and Stone. Carrying out illegal acts from the ”Boss” is what we face today.
Republicans, most likely behind closed doors are in a state of panic. Putin, is pleased to see the USA is democracy is being torn down, Republicans are wrestling, that if we remove Trump will we be terrorized by the Trump base.
Senators, do the right thing for our country and future generations.
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@D Martin They won't.
1
Doesn't matter if he should or shouldn't. He will. No matter what Giuliani says he has as insurance. If trump feels danger, Giuliani is done. I truly believe that trump abandon/reject anybody/everybody to save himself (and that includes his own children)
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@sjs And then we might get to see Rudy's "insurance" policy...I interpret that to mean that his way out from under oncoming traffic is to provide new evidence of President Trump's self dealing.
2
@sjs,Most of the country,harbors a disdain for NY,but they love a ethical,moral disgrace in Trump.Rudy a easy guy to dislike,he understands criminals though I believe he does have a get out of Jail Card.
Giuliani has a background in real world politics that Trump does not; so the 'insurance' is likely to be real.
New York politics has always been a dirty business; right back to the original "Tammany Hall". Giuliani survived in that world by playing the game as well as anyone. "Insurance" in that world means : financial records, photographs, signed agreements, witnesses who will testify, and even an item of clothing with DNA. Compared to Giuliani, Trump is an amateur; but he probably does not realise it.
Further, as Trump's lawyer, Giuliani knows who would be holding grudges and would welcome an opportunity to talk. Given suitable guarantees of immunity.
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@Philip Brown So Giuliani on the stand could be even more interesting than what we've heard already? Bring it on.
3
Most definitely Trump should stomp Rudy, then Rudy can stomp Trump, then the United States can become somewhat safer,
But the Dems, as yet, haven't played the Big Card, and I am hoping Ms. Fiona Hill will provide the opportunity:
"Ms. Hill, given your long experience with intelligence and national security, are you and your cohorts not suspicious of Donald Trump and his transparent favors to Russia? " Aside from benefiting himself, wasn't putting Zelensky "in a box" advantageous to Russia? In fact, hasn't Trump done many advantageous things for Russia? "
Boom! Get it right out there. I don't understand why this hasn't happened yet.
36
@Nelly
Exactly. Put the words to the obvious inference from everything we know that Trump and Putin are allies, or worse for Trump, that he is angling for a profit or deal..or worst, he is under Putin's thumb.
The relationship is unnatural.
1
@Nelly Did Nancy Pelosi not say, to the President's face, that "all roads lead to Putin?"
1
@Nelly
I agree, seems nothing but bumbling idiots are in charge. The connection between Trump and his whole family to Russian is transparent and obvious. Putin has benefited in every possible way from this aberration in the Whitehouse we Americans have endured.
"Should Trump Tromp Rudy?"
Well, sure. And he will. Just like he tromps on everyone, eventually.
But, to what end? It's a little late for that.
Let's dissect this a little... there's nothing specifically illegal about the President having a separate group of people working through the details of a relationship with another country, per se. That has happened any number of times in the past, with both Democratic and Republican presidents. It's ill-advised to spit the diplomatic role among groups which essentially compete for attention of that other country, but it's not illegal.
The problem is what these people do to the other country in the name of the President. That's where Rudy went off the rails, and that is what he needs to be held accountable for. And also the President, since Rudy was working under his direct orders.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Rudy has the goods on Trump, certainly. And Rudy will continue to refuse to participate in this investigation, thereby obstructing it and making his own position even more untenable. But he isn't doing that to protect the President. No, Rudy is too busy trying to protect himself, and getting the country to ignore all the braggadocio and disinformation he had in his statements on TV about his illegal machinations with Ukraine.
The Democrats will make an example of Rudy to convince Trump, once and for all, that he should resign. He won't, of course. But he should emulate Nixon in this.
7
@Max Dither
He might resign, Max. Trump is the rotten kid who'd take his ball and go home rather than lose. So the Mooch has predicted.
Great article, and many of the tongue-in-cheek responses are terrific. On a more serious note, just how far do you think Trump will go to deflect attention when he realizes the tide has turned? I shudder to contemplate.
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@Dave "how far do you think Trump will go to deflect attention when he realizes the tide has turned?"
This is a huge concern. He will burn the place down rather than step aside. I don't want Pence in the WH but it wouldn't surprise me to see Trump removed by his own cabinet when the party finally realizes that, with Trump as the nominee, all is lost for 2020... and beyond. I just hope they take action before Trump can do something stupid that involves the military.
Here is Giuliani's insurance. Trump ran this scheme through his personal attorney Giuliani. Trump told the 3 amigos to talk to and take directions from Giuliani because Rudy provides a firewall. Both can invoke the attorney client privilege to protect each other. But, according to the crime-fraud exception to the privilege, a client's communication to his attorney isn't privileged if he made it with the intention of committing or covering up a crime or fraud which appears the case here. This is the insurance Rudy has. If he has evidence to show Trump was a party to the bribery he can pull this card and blow the whistle on Trump. Trump realizes this and so will never roll over on Giuliani.
There is no honor among thieves.
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@P Locke Sounds like a ploy that Trump/Giuliani might try but why didn't this work for Michael Cohen? I'm not an attorney so I have no clue.
Vindman also hadn't heard about Guiliani's attempt to continue as Mayor after the 9/11 attacks because he was the only person on the planet who could rebuild NYC - despite the fact that (1) term limits barred him from a third term and (2) Michael Bloomberg had been elected.
19
@NK : I commented on Vindman who struck me as more politician, undermining the authority of the commander in chief, than soldier, consulting his atty. rather than the president himself.Where was the chain of command? Vindman, whose family emigrated to the US when he was 3, and thus his knowledge of Ukrainian is shaky,,appeared in uniform rather than in a business suit, and I thought to myself, he wants to impress us, but tis true that the more seriously u take urself , the less seriously other will take u. Vindman sought to "montrer," to show off, as if wearing the uniform increased his credibility.He looked foolish. When Peter Struzk appeared before Congress,who by the way is a veteran of the 101st Airborne, don't recall his appearing before them with an unpacked parachute on his back, wearing heavy brown boots as if he were ready to deploy To his credit moreover!GOP crossexaminers had Vindman clawing for answers, and if you have nothing to hide, why would u even need a lawyer?Hearings are backfiring on Dems. and their friends in the media.Average American, if he cares at all, is saying to himself that Trump, who has done so much to enable us as Americans to hold our heads high once again, sees the unfairness of it all, and says to himself, why not stick with the guy who got us to where we r now,unparalleled prosperity.Re medals for being a casualty of war that Vindman proudly displayed, John Kerry was awarded a Purple heart for a cut on his finger!
@NK Yet Bloomberg managed to pull off 1) that feat and 2) get reelected.
1
@LesISmore Bloomberg's time in the public square is coming to an end--he's in his late seventies--and to have to apologize for a "stop and frisk" policy that actually worked in order to appease the left wing of the party makes him look doubly foolish, Like so many others his age, his most formidable enemy for Bloomberg is the passage of time.Interesting polll published by Times newspaper a few years ago and respondents were asked would they rather have Bloomberg's billions yet be his age, or would they rather be the age that they were. Overwhelmingly, they replied that all that money would not make up for being the former mayor's age. Same thing with Pelosi, for whom this speakership is do doubt the last hurrah. I don't care who you are: Youth always trumps age!
Time is now to write our senators, particularly those up for re-election and tell them to come to their senses.
27
I think Rudy meant that he has health insurance (probably paid for by NYC taxpayers since he was mayor) and that any injuries he would suffer from having been thrown under the bus would be fixed without him having to pay for his medical bills.
11
Believe Rudy when he says - I have 'insurance'. By that he means that he can document that everything he did for Trump was at Trump's behest (not that he hasn't or isn't doing other corrupt things, just that Trump throwing him under the bus will also tarnish Trump in equal fashion.)
So, is trump the real teflon don? In this case, he may need kevlar.
36
I remember the days when all about Trump lead to Russia which still applies ( cannot figure out why Democrats do not ask more about how withholding Ukranian funds benefited Russia) but now all about Trump leads to Giuliani too. Trump cannot fire Putin and, if he could, he wouldn't. But you are right, after Sondland, Rudy looks fired to me.
Trump will say Rudy was acting on his own out of self-interest on behalf of a foreign client and a couple of "consultant" jobs (access to the WH). If Trump gets restless about the impeachment process, he might have Rudy court-martial. One lawyer will not be enough for Rudy. Rudy will remember what happened to that other Trump Lawyer.
11
@Aurace Rengifo
So right. 2019 has been a fantastically good year for Putin. With Trump pulling us out of Syria (good for Putin) and Trump undermining the government in Ukraine with highly conditional, if not reluctant, American support (great for Putin).
The real winner in what happened in Ukraine was Vladimir Putin, and why the Democrats do not make a point of this more often and directly befuddles me as well. Trump appears to be a Russian asset, and Ukraine is evidence of that.
1
@Aurace Rengifo Betcha he pulls out his standard sentence: "I didn't know him well." Ha!
1
Rudy Giuliani, the guy whom Trump will never throw under his bus, has "insurance" he will keep his job as Trump's personal lawyer. So what's his insurance? And what will prevent Donald Trump from becoming a two-term president? We shall see.
21
@Nan Socolow 1) health insurance 2) a tape? and 3) the voters
Besides giving us (painful)entertainment we need to know when/ how all this will end .On that the only certainty is that the base is not moving or doing so at a glacial pace. So we can only look forward --pathetically--to more of the same and the continued erosion of standards in every domain in a once incomparable US.
27
@s.chubin The base seems larger than it is because it makes more noise, howls more epithets, owns more guns, and breaks with standards of decorum and judgment. The base will, as you say, never move. But there are plenty of Trump voters who are not of his base, and may be persuaded to vote for a Democrat, or will just stay home, which is almost as good.
10
@s.chubin
This is, by comparison to the moment when the cold war was 'hottest', the age of Oligarchs. Are they doing a better job of keeping the peace and assuring a sustainable human relationship with the environment than the 'ages' we are each envisioning? I don't know, but my gut tells me 'no'. Are Trump's wilder and more outrageous machinations lessening, i.e. is he learning that being financial friends with oligarchs is going to land him in jail or at least disgrace? We can at least hope so.
1
Well, Gail, what looks obvious to you and me is bitterly disputed by 35% of Americans, the Forever Trumpers, who all agree that "the phone call was 'perfect.'" And another 12% of Americans mistakenly believe the stock market is up because of concrete actions by Trump, and their mutual funds are more important to them than the Constitution. Result: enough of this 47% of the electorate is distributed among swing states that Trump has quite good chances of being a two-term President.
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@Mark Nuckols I am thinking that (hopefully) the 35% includes most or some of the 12% so that trump's supporters only tally up to about 40%. That number is scary enough, but one can hope.
14
@Mark Nuckols you might want to revisit Louisiana, Kentucky and Alabama (yes LSU game). God don’t like ugly.
You can safely bet that Rudy is safe. Even if he has nothing on Trump, would Trump trust him if he claimed that he did, and that he'd go public? If Trump offered a pardon in exchange for Rudy falling on his sword, do you not think he'd take it?
15
Trump may throw Giuliani "under the bus" at which point Giuliani may remind Trump about his "insurance".
If the insurance is not in the form of videotapes, Trump will declare that the documents, photographs or tape recordings are all fabrications created by the "Deep State" to smear him and say that it is all Giuliani's fault.
And then he will say that he did not ask for a quid pro quo, despite what everyone has said. He will say "no quid pro quo" over and over and his supporters and the GOP leadership will echo his words.
69
He stands a good chance of winning next November, better than any other Republican. Why would they get rid of him? He's more popular than any Republican, and most Democrats.
Trump is not well regarded, but Congress has an approval rating of about 25%. The governing elite, including the various witnesses, are regarded as a self-serving nest of corruption by most outside of Washington. The participants in this impeachment drama are only heroes in this paper and within the ranks of the Democratic party.
I have a hard time seeing how this impeachment helps.
5
@Tom Meadowcroft whether it helps or not is a very superficial view.. the office and its probity is what is at issue...the only thing Trump has assured is the death of exceptionalism.. the beacon on the dream has been sullied..
136
@Tom Meadowcroft I would disagree. This impeachment is absolutely necessary. Donald Trump is the poster-boy for exactly what the founders had in mind when they invented impeachment. I also think your polling is wrong when it comes to Trump versus "most Democrats".
150
The highlighting the destruction of norms demands this impeachment continue. The failure to allow Congressional oversight, the raw defense of the indefensible by the party in power, and the acquiescence to a self serving executive now will now become a precedent for the executive.
42
As entertaining as the hearings have been, it's a bit depressing as well. The entertainment was provided by the Republicans, who pretzeled themselves trying to come up with defenses for Trump's behavior.
Jim Jordan seemed to think that the louder he yelled and the faster he talked, the more innocent the POTUS would seem.
Devin Nunes couldn't get over the fact that he is no longer Chair of the Intelligence Committee and has to play second fiddle to Adam Schiff, whom he clearly despises. His anger was palatable, and fun to watch.
And Elise Stefanik's performance as the aggrieved member of the committee who wasn't allowed to be "recognized" because of previously agreed upon rules was highly entertaining. If you didn't know the backstory, you might actually believe that she was being marginalized. She wasn't.
But the depressing part is that because it appears that the Republicans will stick together like a big bowl of glutinous rice, when the impeachment charges are presented to the Republican controlled Senate, there it shall die. And those who inexplicably love Trump will vote for him again, and once again, I fear that the Electoral College will re-elect Donald J. Trump to the presidency.
376
@Chris Wildman Not only is it perversely entertaining, this process is revealing how low politicians will sink to advance their ambitions. Will Nikki Halley please stand.
62
@R. Anderson Nikki Halley thinks Trump is truthful!
15
@Chris Wildman
The best thing that Adam Schiff did was say to Nunes:
“45 minutes to you sir!”
He KNEW that Nunes would have a horrible time filling the space.
22
After listening to the testimony at the House Intelligence Committee hearings and trying to connect the dots on the characters and deals in the foreign aid/military assistance appropriation and the allegations that the President was using the grant to extort or bribe the Ukrainian government to dig up corrupt involvement of the Bidens in Ukraine, the name that kept showing up in the dots was Mr. Giuliani. It seems to fit a classic model for shaking down a foreign government by offering access to the U.S. government and freeing up money that was coming anyway in return for a very lucrative fee for Mr. Giuliani's firm to add to his fee as the President's personal attorney. I am not saying this happened because I don't know, but it is a classic model used by those who register as a foreign lobbyist.
With your ability to track Joe Lieberman's clients and "(Looking at you, Mr. S.}", I am confident that you are following the money in Giuliani's firm's clients that will tell the real story of how lucrative his relationship with Mr. Trump has been. I would be surprised if he does not become a star witness as the inquiry matures. Anyhow, you are my favorite political historian.
47
@james jordan Giuliani will assert attorney-client privilege. And while that may mean he’s off the hook, the privilege is more important than the sleazy goings on of this administration
1
@Lawyermom
The privilege doesn't cover illegal activities.
3
@Mike Westfall
I agree.
It's true Ukraine will follow Trump to the Senate hearings, Ms. Collins, and it's likely that the Republicans there will do nothing. But thanks to the impeachment inquiry, the evidence will be in front of voters, who can render their own verdicts next November.
As to Giuliani's lawyer's claim that he was "joking" about having under-the-bus insurance: did I miss the punch line? It didn't sound like a joke.
106
@M. I don't think he was talking about Medicare.
6
@M. irony.
I do not know who is going to go first, Giuliani or Sondland. But if we know Donald Trump as we are fairly certain we do, they will both be packing their bags and exiting from "government service." That leaves Trump with more lies like, "Rudy's a good man. See what the Democrats' witch hunt did to him." And, "I never really knew Mr. Sondland. It was Melania who sent him a thank-you note for the million bucks and urged me to hand him an ambassadorship." Everyone goes under the bus but the driver. So we think. But thanks to today's testimony, and as Gail's colleague Michelle Goldberg just wrote, Mr. S brought Mr. T who brought Mr. P who brought Mr. G under that proverbial bus with himself. But this is not enough. In spite of all we have heard, we still have to bear up to the possible - probable - result that Trump will be acquitted. Let us not forget that in 2020, including Mr. McConnell Incorporated.
71
@Louise Cavanaugh You are right! Easy to forget.
6
@Louise Cavanaugh
As Mr. Rudy G. is a private citizen and DJT's personal attorney, who is paying Rudy's travel, bed and board while he is attempting to coerce foreign government leaders and running a side gig or two? Rudy's style is not elder hostels and catching breakfast from a street vendor.
Inquiring minds want to know.
30
@Kathy Lollock Rudy works for Trump, not the American taxpayer.
11
Giuliani definitely has dirt on Trump from their long association in NYC and probably explains why he was hired in the first place. Mulvaney also has dirt and that seemed to make dilettante Sondland the designated patsy, until today's testimony that is. If Trump wants to get rid of Giuliani, the real question is, who has more dirt on whom? Maybe we can get a twofer as they reduce each other to ashes in a deliciously ugly spectacle! Fingers crossed.
580
@stan continople Of course, there will always be plenty of dirt to go around as long as anyone is dealing with trump. That is a given.
14
@stan continople The problem is that Putin, in the end, has the most, and dirtiest, dirt.
9
@stan continople You'd think Rudy would have a better job if he's got the good dirt. State or DHS.
3
Trump can’t blame Rudy. He has “insurance.” What could that be? Perhaps something really bad on his buddy Trump? After all, they’ve known each other forever. Rudy might be a jerk, but he’s smart enough to keep his eyes and ears open, and shrewd enough to keep insurance for when he needs it.
101
@Peter Limon
Hopefully, Rudy's "insurance" includes many, many years' worth of Individual-1's taxes.
4
Rudy has insurance? Must be very like the insurance Putin holds.
293
@dairubo:
Good point. Maybe, in fact, it's the same insurance policy wherein both Giuliani and Putin are named as beneficiaries.
1
"Only the worst possible people"
Trump-GOP: 2016 - 2019
November 3 2020
354
@Socrates I miss you, and Gemli, and all my other
favorite commentators.
Seems you've all been holding back commenting out
of exasperation over the last 3 years. I hope it's not
'what is it worth, after all'.
I hope you're well. A.
18
Great to hear from you, Anthony.
Unfortunately, the 'new and improved' NYT comment section has resulted in many favorite commenters' comments being throttled and buried.
Sad.
18
It seems Volker, Sondland and Perry have more in common with Moe, Larry, and Curly than “the three amigos.” And I don't doubt for a second that Rudy (the fourth stooge) has “insurance” that would protect him. Inquiring minds want to know if Donald (the fifth stooge) is unhinged and dumb enough to risk cutting his loose cannon? I hope so. I'd buy Mr. G's tell all memoir. (Or at least take it out of the library. Or watch the made for TV version.)
56
@Charles " Moe, Larry, and Curly than “the three amigos.”
What abut Shep?
2
@Charles
Not my original idea, but- I'm wondering if Trump will resign before the election so he can get an official pardon from Pence? He could get a lot of mileage from the narrative of how he was driven out of office by the evil "democrat coup" and the "fake news" media and yada yada yada....
1
@Charles
Let's all promise Rudy we'll buy his tell all book...and then not.
He deserves that.
Insurance? Maybe Guiliani has something on Trump from his years as a not too kosher NYC real estate operator. Maybe that's where Trump learned to talk the Mafia talk.
54
@lester ostroy Trump learned to talk the Mafia talk from working for the mafia.
1
Like Rudy said, he’s got insurance.
26
@Yulia
What could possibly embarrass Trump that hasn't already been said?
2
Rudy "The Last Resort" Giuliani clearly indicates that everything has already gone wrong for Donnie!
Rudy's last stand will reveal his even uglier side, as he turns on the respectable few left in the impeachment process. We know he's a "fashion conscious" New Yorker, but attacking Vindman's lapels is only going to make American's roll up their sleeves to ready themselves for Rudy's under the bus ride.
Perhaps Rudy was a chess move by the Trumpsters- Donnie's not the worst guy in the world. It was all Rudy's fault from the start!
16
It's only a matter of time until we hear: "Rudy Giulini, I hardly knew him... seemed like a nice guy."
95
Or, “I hardly knew him but Ivana knew his first wife, Marla had met Donna once, and Melanie ran into Judith at Tiffany’s. She thought I should throw Rudy a little work to help him with his alimony output and I like to keep Melania happy.”
1
Didn't Cohen have insurance also?
83
@SteveH
I expect Cohen is still hopefully awaiting his pardon. I’ll bet he still knows a lot he hasn’t “shared.”
1
Could we just stop talking about throwing Rudy G. "under the bus"? Since both he and the President are joined so closely at the hip in this affair, they should both suffer the same fate: placed in an animal carrier and tied on the roof of Mitt Romney's station wagon to be driven around the country, in perpetuity, by the good Senator from Utah.
340
@Equine
Now this is creative writing and creative punishment ideation all in one easy to visualize mental picture. It reminds me of the scene in Ace Ventura Pet Detective where both the dog and Jim Carrey have their heads out the car window trying to bite air.
24
@Equine Wonderful imagery, with a private equity master of the universe driving, while watching his Cayman Islands bank accounts on a dashboard display.
14
@Equine
That was the best comment of all. You made my day happier. Thank you so much.
10
Trump won't tromp Rudy. He will give him the same send off of all his other cronies and staff - I hardly knew him.
17
I think Trump used Rudy in a mob boss like manner. Trump will deny he did anything because it was all Rudy’s doing. Trump may explode in rage if he thinks Sondland is stealing the spotlight and further implicating him.
32
@Javaforce
You just suggested something ignored: while Trump is angry at the "disloyalty" of Sondland, he is really infuriated that Sondland had the spotlight yesterday, leaving Trump writing BIG notes on cue cards just to get attention.
2
Easy prediction: Trump will throw Rudy to the Lions. Lions defined as FOX News, RW publications and Republicans in Congress.
Rudy is probably hoping for another 9/11, to be saved.
SAD.
14
@Phyliss Dalmatian
Be careful what you wish for...
The Vietnam War draft dodger and the emasculated Republican Party do not disappoint in dredging new lows to promote their mutually predicated campaign of destroying those speaking truth to power. Simultaneously denying or minimizing knowledge of the very persons they actively promoted and engaged, they endeavor to have it both ways. This fallacious approach is hypocritically duplicitous and dangerously self destructive. And race ostensibly transcends this campaign of distortion, distraction, and deflection. The draft dodger and GOP die hard sycophants feign lack of memory, recognition, and awareness of these various individuals - Caucasian males of privilege - when confronted with negatively corrosive disclosures to insulate themselves from appropriate ridicule and deserved criticism. Strategically, the draft dodger and these Republican stalwarts don't waste any time, even lose a New York minute, when condemning, disparaging, maligning, defaming, and heaping destructive vilification upon individuals of colour - NFL Black American males taking a knee in defiance of law enforcement brutality, the despised 'Squad", four articulate, intelligent, and accomplished women of colour, the skilled and able CNN commentator Don Lemon, the late revered Congressman Elijah Cummings, the powerful chairman of the House Oversight Committee, viciously attacked for calling it like he saw it, that he "didn't know his place," when challenging constitutional excesses. Race matters.
62
Brilliantly written comment - and, so true!
3
Pretty sure Rudy has two (maybe three by now) ex-wives that would love to testify before Congress. They should get their chance first.
45
"Why not just blame everything on Rudy?"
Not a good idea, not because Rudy doesn't deserve the blame but because Rudy is not a stable person as we know from his various TV appearances.
Just look at the photo of Rudy that accompanies your column, Gail. Does that look like a stable man? If Trump blames him for anything, he is liable to start yelling and screaming worse than he already does now.
Don't believe me? Here's Rudy yelling at a guest on Fox:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-impeachment-news-latest-ukraine-rudy-giuliani-fox-news-chris-hahn-a9119401.html
16
The Celebrity Apprentice was elected President. It is high time Giuliani donned a robe & hosted a tv courtroom: Judge Rudy!
38
The syntax is a bit off in that last bit with "He's joking". Should say "He's a very bad joke".
11
The USPTO Theory of System Analysis .....
"How does it work?"
A concept has no base!! (See epistemology of science...history of etc.) ...A wheel? A perpetual motion device?.... Only a process or design that exactly describes the working of a formulation to arrive at a product of the desired effect ... how does it work?
Rudy and Co. are names to add to a letterhead ...$50,000 for rubbing the Magic Lamp.
Some of the people...Some of the time.....
1
"A reporter from The Guardian recently asked Giuliani about his under-the-bus prospects. Rudy said he had “insurance” that would protect him." Maybe Putting wanting to keep his favorite puppet in line gave Giuliani some dirt he has on Trump, but when push comes to shove, Giuliani will be pushed and shoved by Trump under the prison bus rumbling his way to save his own thin skin. The Machiavelli wannabe will be without a friend in high places, and consigned to the same fate as Cohen and Manafort who were confident they would be protected by Trump, until they felt the knife in the back.
The Republicans will say Giuliani misled Trump, and whispered conspiracy theories in his ear, and that all of the Ukraine quid pro quo was clearly Giuliani's doing - Sondland set him up for it perfectly. It is their ace in the hole to deflect from their nauseating trashing of a decorated war veteran and career public servants who have ably served this country, and whose ethics and morals are above reproach except by those with no moral compass whatsoever. The Senate will then clear Trump in a trial, and it will be business as usual.
11
And what kind of insurance ?He probably knows to much on many people , like Trump for one .
6
I really hope Rudy has "insurance." Might be the only way to move that vote count in the Senate.
46
Does Rudy really have insurance?
I doesn’t matter.
If he does, Trump will rabidly deny it.
And if he doesn’t, Rudy will make it up and rabidly proclaim it.
Trump will throw Rudy under the bus and after that, there is only spectacle.
13
Regarding Guilani's purported glory days around 9/11, I certainly remember his effort to go around the NY State Constitution and extend his tenure as mayor because of the terrorist attacks. Fortunately, his wishes were not granted.
44
"Vindman had clearly not heard about Giuliani’s decision, before the attack, to put the city’s emergency command center into the already-bombed-once World Trade Center because he wanted it to be within walking distance of City Hall."
My first instinct is to say this is a bit over the top. On the other hand, because republicans are so reprehensible, and tRump so vile, maybe there's no top to go over.
8
Rudy must have quite a bit of insurance stockpiled by now. He might want to watch his back. Trump’s M.O. with murderers has tended towards the “forgive and forget” policy.
11
I miss seeing Rudy on TV. To the extent the national tragedy known as President Trump has entertainment value, Rudy provided most of it.
4
Concerning the Lt Colonel wearing his uniform to testify before Congress and displeasing the Republicans, I have experience. As a reservist I was called before a (very) informal meeting of a Senate subcommittee, to testify (I was not even sworn in) about hospital ships. I was told that regulations required I wear "Alphas" (for usual white collar work you wear "Charlies", for fancy parades "Bravos". The Navy Admirals and their Captains all wore their Alphas.
31
@Marvant Duhon No Republican objected to Ollie North wearing his uniform. They all thought he looked pretty nifty in his class Alphas.
1
“ A reporter from The Guardian recently asked Giuliani about his under-the-bus prospects. Rudy said he had “insurance” that would protect him.”
Unfortunately for Rudy, the “insurance” is a recording he secretly made on his phone—which, sadly for him, he erased when he tried to order take-out on Seamless.
21
How do I become a Canadian citizen?
42
Trump will have a heart attack from the pressure. Then we will all be off the hook. Pence couldn't get elected to dog catcher. Then we will all be off the hook.
26
@JimW Pence has the wooden charisma of a badly designed puppet.
64
@JimW I think it's possible that Trump has had a panic attack from all the stress and that's what took him to the hospital. Think about the amount of stress and chaos this guy generates, and that the tsunami of stress is starting to move in his direction now.
6
Brilliant!
1
It is unlikely that Trump would dump Rudy. Rudy knows all of Trump’s shady dealings and also knows where all the bodies are buried.There is no better insurance policy for Rudy than the keys to the inner sanctum. Only Putin has more dirt on Trump than Rudy. It is interesting that Trump has rarely if ever mocked or disparaged Rudy. One wonders why?
54
@Milton Lewis
You'd think Cohen could have fended off Trump----x-personal fixer and all.
Rudy's insurance may not be good enough. Poor "Wilmer" Cohen's wasn't.
I see no one at the Times thought seriously about the value of using more precise words, in conformity with very good advice it received - and published. It would be nice if it could start explaining what it is really trying to do.
1
@Daniel Kauffman Huh?
2
@Daniel Kauffman This is an OP-ED column by Gail Collins, not an editorial by the NYT.
2
@Daniel Kauffman
In the interest of precision, the name of this paper is, "The New York Times." (Can't help you with your need for further explaining, sorry.)
Rudy is gone, it's just a matter of when. Maybe we should start a pool on his departure date. The SDNY would really like to know.
Great photo of Rudy at the top of the story. Makes him look like today's version of the Republican Poster Boy. By comparison Trump with his paint job and Lady Clairol #5 hair color doesn't look so weird.
15
Rudy, Rudy, Rudy. The essential question is, who was paying him and why? He was clearly directing US foreign policy solely for the benefit of Cpl. Bonespur's personal interest.
Lock them up!
30
Republicans still have several options. The first and most obvious is the Senate clears everyone and Trump brags. The second is everyone gets thrown under the bus except Donald, and he pardons them all. The third is Fox News and Trump supporters don't care whether the president and his cronies commit treason or not. All they care about is bashing Hillary and Obama. And the show goes on.
17
Giuliani's lawyer said his client was joking when he said he had 'insurance' preventing Trump from throwing him under the bus? Hmm...what could that be? Follow the money, tax returns or some recorded sessions with Putin?
Giuliani his gory days gone seems to have stumbled into a a den of con men or has he out conned the con?
4
Giuliani has not grown "more untethered." He was a complete crackpot before & during his tenure as NYC's mayor, encouraging police violence & bursting into anger against any improvements in the city. And you in the media loved him.
26
I also saw that, Giuliani claiming he has insurance when asked what if trump throws you under the bus. Hmmm Giuliani’s various ex wives also probably have insurance against Giuliani himself. That’s why he is running around globally trying to make a quick buck or two, he has so many alimonies. What a headache.
12
But Trump hardly knows Giuliani. He’s just some low level guy, hardly ever around. Yeah, he may have had his picture taken with him a few times but he has his picture taken with a lot of people he hardly knows.
61
Too much to comprehend, even through your laser vision Gail. Can we just take them all down?
Though I would like say, as a former NYCer, sticking it to Giuliani would be sweet justice.
20
Of course his lawyer would say that: it's a federal offense to threaten the President,
9
Rudy needs to make a quick stop at his favorite men’s shop for a suit that doesn’t wrinkle when a bus rolls over it. The bus is coming, with Trump at the wheel and the rest of his gang in the back.
7
Under this administration I saw that philosophy had no power to make my life more bearable. Thus I lost my belief in philosophy.
8
Don’t forget that Rudy is a big opera buff. He won’t just sing; he declaim an entire aria.
It ain’t over till the lady sings.
10
@David G yes and if you know about Rudy's past days dressing in drag he might be willing to dress as the fat lady and sing.
Just do a google search for "Giuliani costumes" and you will see what I mean.
I learn so much from the NYT. For example, my dreams will now be haunted by the thoughts of strolling through my pergola with electric heating and special lighting. If it is good enough for the E.U. Ambassador, it's good enough for my slumber.
As to the final destination for Chevy Giuliani, under the bus is the most convenient and expedient. However, a more likely and fitting location would be as a component in a cornerstone of a Trump branded property. Nothing says permanence like a well poured slab of reinforced concrete.
39
Well, the New York State Bar Association has already protested his involving himself in the situation. And now that there’s proof that he’s much more involved than we thought- can’t he be disbarred? Can’t charges be brought in court? He lied about everything, including that he knew Sondland— which is quickly being shown to be false.
31
Gail Collins is great here, but that photo of Rudy! The character and reality of the mayor himself has been captured by al drago.
Thank you.
26
To answer your question, no, definitely not. The Chevy Chase role goes to Gordon Sondland, Rick Perry is the new Martin Short, and Kurt Volker is Steve Martin.
10
Does everyone remember Michael Cohen,Trump’s fixer and former Attorney.He is now serving a term in a Federal Correctional Institution.Trump disparaged him and then quickly turned to Giuliani to be his lawyer and fixer-he only finds lawyers he can corrupt and then lets them do his dirty work and then take their lumps when the law catches up with them.Giuliani is next in line in this corrupt lineup.He has kept Fox News viewers entertained with his exaggerations and exploits carried out for Trump.One hopes that no judge nor jury will find his errands for Trump amusing.And one could hope that at long last Trump’s disregard for law and order in government will inspire the House and Senate to impeachTrump who has no regard for the oath he took or for the United States Constitution.
44
If Trump is removed or resigns he faces the threat of a criminal indictment in NYC and DC so he must get reelected so the statute of limitations can run out while in office. Trump will come up with a crazy plan to stay out of jail. Maybe it's Rudy or Pence or even Barr who encouraged him to release the call transcript. Perhaps he'll concoct a conspiracy by these three and others. He'll do whatever it takes.
23
@Frank Heneghan
This is really mean and should be below me, but I keep thinking that if #1 were jailed, he wouldn’t have the coiffure services that he relies on for his self esteem - at least I don’t suppose you are permitted to wear toupees or have access to hairspray behind bars. I remember the big difference in the appearance of Manafort after some time in jail and it was sort of pitiful. That, almost more than incarceration would be the worst punishment for T.
5
There's a word for it all, Gail - it's kakistocracy (hat tip Paul Krugman) meaning "government by the least suitable or competent citizens"; it's almost as good as your own label for GOP'ers as 'a herd of rabid ferrets'.
Our constitution has a flaw which prevents voters from recalling Senators or Representatives (who stand for election every even year) - but a POTUS can be recalled through impeachment.
Jabberwock 45*'s described acts would get any garden variety alderman, mayor or governor in this country indicted, this POTUS - and his whole kakistocracy - should openly testify at the impeachment inquiry.
After all, Lindsey Graham thought Bill Clinton's transgression of splitting hairs over "what the meaning of is, is" was just so awful, there was only one remedy to restoring the honor of the high office of POTUS.
'Individual-1's actions are orders of magnitude beyond anything even Nixon did, much less Clinton.
68
Rudy says he has "insurance."
This sounds like one New York street fighter keeping tabs on another.
Cross town buses in Manhattan are big and fast. 2 for 2 might be a win-win for the Big Apple, the Empire State, Uncle Sam and Mother Earth.
20
Except Rudy knows things about the President. A lot of things. And he does not seem like a person unwilling to sing when the music starts playing.
45
Rudy would immediately squeal on Trump and spill every bean he knew in order to stay out of jail. Then he would go on to write a best seller on it. And he wouldn't lose any sleep or experience a single pang of conscience over it. Why should he? He knows that Trump would do the exact same like he did to his previous personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, last year.
38
Rudy could be named the "Acting Scapegoat," leaving plenty of opportunity for other esteemed members of the White House entourage to take a turn as Trump drives the plot forward.
11
It might take a little time, but don't think we'll see Rudy in that blue suit with a red tie. Think his new outfit will be casual dress with black and white stripes and the number, 6546778 on the back.
That's if SDNY has anything to say about the matter.
6
Would Trump and the Republican leaders in Congress who serve as his minions throw Giuliani under a bus? Maybe not. Would they throw him under a subway express train? In a New York minute.
In The Godfather, the Don's lawyer, called his consiglieri, was, like Giuliani for the present Don, the one who passed along instructions to commit crimes. The arrangement meant that if the Don was threatened with arrest, only one man had to disappear. The consiglieri. Don Trump has been sloppy in his procedures - he will also have to make his acting chief of staff disappear.
9
Dear Gail,
Where do we start? Today was a deal breaker for #45 whether he knows it or not. As Schiff so eloquently closed the hearing, “he wasn’t interested in anti-corruption he is the epitome of corruption!”
I’m most upset about his smearing the reputations of Ambassador Yovanovitch and Lt Col Vindman. He so easily throws really hero’s into the ditch, why does his party embrace this behavior? You see how he distances himself from Sondland, he wouldn’t know loyalty if it hit him over the head.
His Republican enablers had better get in front of the bus. The American people are witnessing first hand what corruption looks like and will remember next fall who turned their back on the US Constitution.
This is perhaps the most important decision that your Representative will make in your lifetime. If this President gets away with his corruption behavior we will have lost our democracy.
142
Not to worry! Just another in a looong line of low-level-coffee-getters!
"I barely know the guy!"
7
If it would help to throw someone under the bus, Mayor Giuliani would certainly be the one. He was acting as a U.S. diplomat, but he wasn’t even a government employee. Yet he was trusted to speak to world leaders on behalf of our country. And it seems he was mixing the business of our country with the pleasure of selling his “consulting services,” which were of dubious value. When he’s just concluded a session with a world leader on behalf of our president and then catches his breath and starts to pitch his consulting business, the conflict of interest is colossal—yet how can these leaders say no?
The only obstacle to the Mayor being bus-tossed would be President Trump’s loyalty to him. But time-after-time Trump has not only cut ties with former loyal aides but on their way out the door has felt compelled to trash them. So he hardly impresses me as someone who puts much value on loyalty. And this would seem to make the Rudy-under-the-bus scenario a real possibility.
This is all so pathetic. I can’t believe how low our once-great country has fallen. One tiny thing that gives me a bit of hope is this week’s parade our loyal federal officials such as Ambassador Yonanovitch and Colonel Vindman, who are doing their jobs despite all the hate directed at them. With people like this on our side maybe we still have a chance.
64
@Jerry Schulz
So of course we should have foreseen that all this is shadow wheeling and dealing was part of Trump's M.O. He's been doing it for years. Wait til the money laundering catches up with him after he's out of the WH.
We had full warning at the very beginning when
1) Don Jr tried to get dirt from Russian agents at his infamous Trump Tower meeting.
or
2) Jared Kushner was caught trying to set up a secret backchannel communication from Trump to Putin right WITHIN THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY, for god's sake.
Neither one even get a slap on the hand. Don Jr repeatedly lied and Kushner had to revise his security clearance application about 8 times for failing to report meetings with Russians.
This is what happens when you ignore illegal behavior because it's the president's stupid son or son in law.
The citizens gets used to it.
Yes, Rudy goes under the bus. But eventually Trump resigns to save himself and his family from prison. That’s the ultimate Quid Pro Quo, isn’t it?
15
@WestHartfordguy
.
Resign ?
That's the point - he daren't risk it. There are so many indictments just waiting for DJT the minute he exits the WH as plain Mr.non-President. Re-election is his only way to run out the clock on a one-way fast-track to the nearest NY courthouse, and jail thereafter.
djt has been able to get away with all of his immorality and criminal behavior during his entire lifetime. He has dealt with honest contractors and thrown them under the bus with his bankruptcies and been involved in over 3000 civil suits.
He has now met his match. People with integrity, adequate funds of their own, good legal advise, and the knowledge that many of djt's associates are now serving time. The witnesses against him do not want to serve time.
Rudy claims he has insurance against tire marks over his back.
djt seems to be in a pickle.
13
Gail, can you stop with the finest mayor bit? In his last days in office, "America's Finest Mayor" shouted down those (including Senator Hillary Clinton) who warned the air at Ground Zero was not safe and those battling the fire and doing recovery work should all be wearing ventilation protection. "I'm in charge here!" yelled Giuliani. Hundreds of Ground Zero workers are now dead or dying from lung conditions, seven billion has been spent on them and the cap on that amount was just lifted. If that is what a good mayor does I'd hate to see a bad one.
392
@GJenkins
Something thing he and Trump have in common. He tells what a great mayor he was and Trump tells what a great businessman he was. Self aggrandizement to further one’s selfish goals. And fools believe.
20
@GJenkins We should say that
Rudy had one good moment in the sun - 9/11. Aside from that i have not one plausibly decent memory of him. He was always unhinged!
6
These two are of such high character, I know it's a stretch but if the president throws Rudy under a bus, couldn't Rudy just make a deal
with someone, just like that other standard of morality, Michael Cohen?
How have we fallen so low as a nation to be where we are?
11
@MattNg
and so fast! Only three years!
8
@MattNg Having a voting system that can declare the person with the least votes nationwide, but more votes in a hand-full of states, is the root of our sad state of the union. trump is the glaring in-your-face example of why we need to get rid of the electoral college.
1
Even if the only tangible outcome of all this is an under-the-bus Giuliani, it will have been be worth the effort.
8
Rudy is being mentioned regularly as being one of the prime architects of many of the administration's misdeeds. Initially he may try to say he implemented nothing and was just expressing personal opinions in a non-official capacity. That isn't going to be much help (even with the Trump base), when Hannity supports Trump and starts demonizing him. He has to be looking at the body count around Trump and trying to assess when it is time to try to save his own skin. He might stall, but I would speculate he has a month or two to come clean or add him to the body count.
24
Gail, the writing's on the wall already. Sondland framed it (and, in another sense, Rudy) today, since "talk to Rudy" was the one direct and express connection Sondland could make to Trump's attempt to leverage US foreign aid to Ukraine for personal political benefit.
In fact, the words "talk to Rudy" were repeated by Sondland so often today, it should be the Democrats' slogan for 2020.
As to Rudy's "insurance?" We all know that even if Rudy has evidence Trump shot someone dead on 5th avenue, it doesn't insure that Rudy won't look up one day and see that bus' underside.
Moreover, in this White House, loyalty will get you in the door. But outside of Trump family members, it seems like few, if any, have generated enough loyalty from the President to keep them from one day being tweeted out the door. An exception for Rudy? I just don't see it.
32
No, I don't think Rudy was joking about insurance. Good golly, I really hope that Trump tries to scapegoat Rudy. And, yes, "Talk to Rudy." I hope the Committee takes that advice.
Two likely outcomes. We will watch America's mayor plead the Fifth, again, and again, and again, ad nauseum. Or, we will watch Rudy unpack his insurance policy in a spasm of crazy uncle rants, and then see Trump fall for good.
This only gets better and better...
244
Rudy is toast. Like nearly every other Trump acolyte, he will fall in spectacular fashion. More so, of course, because he was so intimately involved in the entire fiasco. The bus is coming and like a film noir character, Rudy in on the sidewalk and Trump is coming out of the shadows to push him...
102
Rudy doesn’t need a lawyer. The bus is rushing full speed directly at him as you read. Rudy needs a foreign country that’ll shelter him for the rest of his days, and he needs to skip to it fast.
86
@N. Cunningham Why do you think he was heading to Ukraine exactly when Lev and Igor were intercepted at Dulles - also attempting to escape to Ukraine?
7
"But when a reporter asked Giuliani if he was concerned that Trump could “throw him under a bus,” Giuliani replied cryptically. “I’m not, but I do have very, very good insurance, so if he does, all my hospital bills will be paid,” Giuliani quipped."
- CNBC
He was joking. Maybe. But if I were Rudy, I'd stay away from traffic. Especially on Fifth Avenue.
153
@KJ
Rudy may have an insurance policy, but Sondland may want to get himself a bodyguard.
3
@Mattie
Sondland is living and working in Belgium?
Probably safer since I doubt there are far fewer crazed Trump supporters there?
1
@KJ
Yes, remember Michael Cohen was a devout Trumpster and publicly stated he would even take a bullet for Trump.
Hmmm, actually Cohen kinda did.
2
I don't think Rudy will allow himself to be the fall guy. Whatever his "insurance" may be, he's pretty sure it will leave him untouched. The long knives, indeed.
52
It would be sweet justice to see Rudy under a bus. On the subject of tristate area politicians who debased themselves at the alter of trump, Chris Christie must be sleeping soundly somewhere tonight thinking about the bullets he dodged.
On a more serious note, the alt reality that is GOP land as narrated by Fox News appears to have decided the best defense currently is to claim Sondland’s testimony completely exonerates trump. They take some of today’s testimony out of context to achieve this and rely on Sondlands revised early testimony to paint him as a liar. They are actually claiming that because trump expressly said there’s no quid pro quo to Sondland after the whistleblower complaint became public, that that is proof that there was none. So after I kill my neighbor, I’ll just tell my friend who witnessed it that I didn’t do it and that’s sufficient defense for acquittal!
181
Trump demands loyalty from all those around him. Rudy is his key enforcer.
Meanwhile, Trump displays loyalty to Putin.
Trump will sell America to Russia for personal gain or to save his own neck. He would throw us all under the bus in a heartbeat.
Ukraine shows us that Trump is in clear violation of the oath he swore to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.
Both he and Giuliani should be under indictment.
Democrats must relentlessly pursue all of Trump's Republican enablers who refuse to convict him. And the voting public must faithfully back up Democrats. There is no other way out.
We are witnessing true heroes testifying before Congress – risking their careers – in a collective effort to save our country. We must ensure that the sacrifices they are making will not be in vain.
533
@Blue Moon we are mostly seeing patriots from the state department. We are sure there are similar patriots in the defense and other government agencies who have been bottling up grievances against Trump administration who in the blanket pursuit of fiscal prudence has eliminated jobs cut budgets and created disruptions. Then we have so called “moderate centrist” democrats who complain about revolution, about drastic changes and promote incremental changes instead. Too late, Trump has already changed everything. It’s time for bold democrats to bring bold changes that will benefit the masses, not just the 1/10th of 1% who have exclusively benefited since Reagan!
24
@petey tonei I understand the fear Republicans harbor for their political careers, but how do they wake up in the morning knowing they are supporting and promoting someone like Trump, a president who couldn't care less about them (or anyone else, for that matter) except in regard to how they can advance his own personal agenda? Why do they think that this can somehow end well for them?
12
@Blue Moon
The voting public? The following states have two Republican Senators:
Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wyoming.
In which of these 22 states do you really trust the voting public to do the right thing and faithfully back up Democrats? That's 44 senators. If you don't trust the voting public in those states, what are you doing to convince them?
3
Interesting but none of it matters. The Senate will not convict, and Trump will easily win re-election.
4
@Marc
128 million votes. Outcome of 2016 election decided by about 75,000. Loser received 3 million more votes than winner.
I don't think easy is the right word to choose.
78
@Marc Even if your predictions come true, the truth coming out always matters.
44
@Marc
Stated with the certainty of someone who believes that if you wish hard enough, whatever you want will come true.
15
Here's how it ends: Trump quits the Presidency stating that they are all against him.
For those around Trump, they would do well to remember W.B. Years, "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
81
@DaveInFranklin - Yes...
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
Yeats wrote those words in 1919, exactly 100 years ago, in the aftermath of World War I. But he could have written them last week.
I particularly like, "The worst are full of passionate intensity." Makes me think of the integrity-challenged Republican congressmen trying to impugn the integrity of our wonderful servants such as Ambassador Yonanovitch and Colonel Vindman.
"And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"
105
@DaveInFranklin
A narcissist avoids the spotlight?
Not in our lifetime.
20
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
I have thought of this Yeats poem often in the past 3 years.
Scary times when the poetry feels literal.
877
>> it’s hard to imagine a whole lot of minds are left to be changed by the current proceedings.
Really? How about the catatonic Republican Senators?
76
@Mark
I believe only 3 GOP senators would be needed to request to have secret ballots.( presuming all Dems want that) That could be a game changer, maybe not, we’ll see.
@Mark
Republicans are in death grip mode to stay in power to get one more conservative SCOTUS on the Court before they go down in 2020 elections.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg better have round the clock double protection for the full next year.
The GOP will do ANYTHING, emphasize ANYTHING, to win the 2020 elections.
They are in overdrive working with anyone and everyone (legally or not, foreign or not) who will support their desperation to win.
I'm not sure Republicans will bother throwing Rudy under bus. It's not like they need an alternate theory of the crime to acquit Trump in the Senate. Or to convince the base of a self-evident truth: "If Trump did it, it is right". Quod erat demonstrandum. Not Quid Pro Quo.
Face it, it's not going to be much of a trial. More like a contest where Republican Senators can try to win a favorable tweet from their Dear Leader by outrageous shows of obsequiousness.
I am sure Lindsey Graham is practicing his lines in front of a mirror as we speak.
So if devouring Rudy pleases Trump they'll feast on him. If Trump decides to spare Rudy, I'm sure they will find plenty of honest men and women in government service whose lives they can destroy to feed the Boss's hunger for recreational cruelty.
What they won't do is the right thing.
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@LT
The only hope is if GOP senators sense that the tide of public opinion has turned against Trump and that their support of him might cost them politically.
It seems unlikely, but remember that Republicans were also firmly behind Nixon until suddenly they weren't and he was gone a few days later.
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@LT "What they won't do is the right thing."
The GOP owned by Putin.
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@LT "... the Boss's hunger for recreational cruelty."
Terrific language - it goes to a place of honor in my "Things I wish I'd Written" file. Thanks!
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Take a look at the classic Humphrey Bogart movie, The Maltese Falcon. Towards the end Bogart and all the unseemly characters are hold up in his apartment contemplating their next move. It is decided they need a fall guy. It is eerie, somewhat comical and intense how they choose the fall guy from among those present. Rudy Giuliani needs to take a look at that scene.
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@S. Gregory
Wilmer was nimble enough to escape out the window; I'd like to see Rudy attempt the same.
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There’s not a nimble one in this bunch. None have seen the the inside of a gymnasium in ages.
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@S. Gregory The movie corollary I'm drawn to that parallels the Trump administration is "The Addams Family."
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"Why not just blame everything on Rudy? It wouldn’t change the trajectory of the story, but it would cheer up everybody’s Thanksgiving dinner."
No, to change that trajectory would require more than just having Rudy thrown under the bus.
Other key members of the Trump admin need to have that experience.
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@LynnBob
Since a fish begins to stink from the head, I have another candidate for the experience. However, the RINOs in the Senate, some of whom probably also knew about the Quid Pro Quo, will not let that happen because the Fishhead would talk about them, too.
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@LynnBob Including Trump.
I've had the uncomfortable feeling since yesterday that making Rudy the fall guy is exactly the Republicans latest strategy to somehow exonerate potus behavior. Vigilance and focus is needed!
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@NJA Isn't it time some of these subpoenas were delivered by an officer of the court, complete with paddy wagon?
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@NJA
Rudy said he has insurance whatever this may mean. I hope we get to find out soon.
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@Philip Day
And electric cow prod .
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