Giuliani won’t comply with ‘illegitimate’ House subpoenas, says he doesn't need a lawyer

Chuck Ross, DCNF

(FILES) In this file photo Lawyer of the US president Rudy Giuliani looks on before the US president announces his Supreme Court nominee in the East Room of the White House on July 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. - Apparent admissions by Donald Trump's lawyer that the president negotiated a Moscow property deal all through the 2016 election, and that aides may have colluded with Russia, have Washington asking: is Rudy Giuliani going to save Trump or get him impeached? Giuliani, who last year claimed that "truth isn't truth" to explain why Trump shouldn't testify to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia meddling investigation, has confounded political and legal analysts. And his most recent spate of comments to journalists -- some of which gave rise to suspicions of "drunk texting" -- have reportedly frayed his support in the White House. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) — (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

A defiant Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday he will not comply with congressional subpoenas issued in the Trump impeachment inquiry, which he called “illegitimate, unconstitutional, and baseless.”

Giuliani posted a letter on Twitter from his attorney, Jon Sale, to the House Intelligence Committee rejecting a subpoena.

Sale said in the letter that Giuliani, who is President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, is abiding by an Oct. 8 letter that White House counsel Pat Cipollone sent House Democrats saying that the executive branch will not cooperate with the impeachment inquiry, which focuses on Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.

Giuliani told the Daily Caller last week he would not comply with a subpoena because his Ukraine-related work is protected by attorney-client privilege.

Since late in 2018, Giuliani has worked with two associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, to gather information about possible Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election. They have also pushed the unfounded theory that former Vice President Joe Biden pressured Ukraine’s president to fire a prosecutor in 2016 investigating his son’s firm, Burisma Holdings.

Parnas and Fruman, who federal prosecutors in New York indicted on campaign finance charges, helped set up interviews for Giuliani with former Ukrainian prosecutors, Yuriy Lutsenko and Viktor Shokin.

I will not participate in an illegitimate, unconstitutional, and baseless “impeachment inquiry.”

Jon Sale, who is a lifelong friend, has represented me for the sole purpose of analyzing the request and responding. At this time, I do not need a lawyer. pic.twitter.com/l0IR0ikEHD

— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) October 15, 2019

The indictment against Parnas and Fruman unsealed on Oct. 10 alleged that they pushed for the removal of Marie Yovanovitch as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine on behalf of an unnamed Ukrainian government official. The Trump administration recalled Yovanovitch from her post on May 20. NBC News has reported that the Ukrainian official is Lutsenko, who left office on Aug. 29.

Giuliani is reportedly under criminal investigation over his Ukraine-related work. He told Reuters Monday that a company owned by Parnas paid him $500,000 for legal and technical advice.

Giuliani has denied wrongdoing and says he is not aware of being under investigation. He pushed back on the idea of hiring a criminal attorney Tuesday.

“At this time, I do not need a lawyer,” he wrote.

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