President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Thursday referred to himself as a “legitimate whistleblower” and said he might need protection to continue informing the public about the unfolding Ukrainian phone call scandal that led this week to an impeachment inquiry.
“Giuliani seems to be completely out of control.”
—Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
The former New York City mayor claimed to Fox News host Laura Ingraham Thursday evening that his role in the scandal is misunderstood and that he has provided a service to the public and the White House through his work to expose corruption.
“I actually think they should all congratulate me,” said Giuliani.
The involvement of Giuliani in the scheme to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, and Hunter’s work with Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings from 2014 to 2019, put him in the spotlight this week as the furor over impeachment took over the news.
Hunter Biden’s role with Burisma has been reported on extensively, including in a well-publicized profile of the former vice president’s son in The New Yorker published July 1.
Mother Jones writer Ari Berman said Thursday that the scandal is “as bad, it not worse, than Watergate,” the crimes and cover-up that ended President Richard Nixon’s administration.
In comments to Politico, published Friday, Giuliani suggested he had more information that was vital to the case and even warned that his life could be in danger.
“I’m the real whistleblower,” Giuliani told the news outlet. “If I get killed now,” he added, “you won’t get the rest of the story.”
Giuliani’s latest comments capped a busy 24 hours for the president’s personal attorney, who spent much of Thursday implicating other administration officials in the scandal.
“Rudy Giuliani seems to be completely out of control,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Thursday.
According to Giuliani, the reason he first reached out to Ukraine on the matter was due to a request from the U.S. State Department—a public admission that has reportedly upset Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT