Rudy Giuliani attacks GOP impeachment lawyer after Sondland testimony

NEW YORK — Rudy Giuliani defended himself against damaging allegations in the impeachment inquiry by attacking his own side.

After Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union, threw him under the impeachment bus in blistering testimony Wednesday, Giuliani lashed out in real time against the GOP counsel co-running the hearing, accusing him of perpetuating “Democrat lies.”

“Republican lawyer doesn’t do his own research and preparation, and is instead picking up Democrat lies, shame,” Giuliani tweeted as the attorney, Steve Castor, suggested while questioning Sondland that the ex-mayor may have gone rogue and acted out of personal interests in pushing for a Ukraine quid pro quo, as opposed to acting on President Donald Trump’s behalf.

Giuliani continued, “Allow me to inform him: I have NO financial interests in Ukraine, NONE! I would appreciate his apology.”

Despite the tweet, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman — a couple of Giuliani cronies who worked with him on the Joe Biden dirt-digging foray — told officials in Ukraine that the ex-mayor was a partner in a pipeline venture they were pursuing in the European country, according to reports.

Moreover, Giuliani has admitted that he offered legal services to Fraud Guarantee, a company controlled by Parnas and Fruman.

Before Giuliani went after Castor, Sondland spent hours trashing the ex-mayor in front of the nation.

Sondland, a Trump campaign mega-donor handpicked as the president’s ambassador to the European Union, repeatedly affirmed in his testimony that Giuliani should not have been given such a large role in U.S. foreign policy on Ukraine.

“We weren’t happy … We did not want to involve Mr. Giuliani,” Sondland testified. “I believed then, as I do now, that the men and women of the State Department, not the president’s personal lawyer, should take responsibility for Ukraine matters.”

In an earlier tweet, Giuliani did not challenge Sondland directly.

Instead, he denied Sondland’s testimony that there was a “quid pro quo” for Ukrainian investigations of Democrats and messed up the date of Trump’s infamous call with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, writing that it took place on July 24 rather than July 25.

Sondland testified that Trump directly ordered him, former Energy Secretary Rick Perry and other U.S. diplomats to “talk with Rudy” and follow the former New York mayor’s lead on the dubious attempt to press Ukraine to launch investigations into Biden’s family and debunked right-wing claims about the 2016 election.

“I worked with Mr. Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine matters at the express direction of the president of the United States,” Sondland said. “We did not want to work with him … We played the hand we were dealt.”

He continued, “We all understood that if we refused to work with Mr. Giuliani, we would lose an important opportunity … So we followed the president’s orders.”

Ambassador Sondland tells House impeachment investigators that he worked with Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine at the “express direction” of President Trump and pushed for a political “quid pro quo” with Kyiv because it was what the president wanted. https://t.co/bYo9W3UfCR

— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) November 20, 2019

Sondland isn’t the only Trump booster who has broken ranks and spilled beans on Giuliani.

Parnas, the Giuliani associate who helped him in the Ukrainian dirt-digging effort, has opened a line of communication with the House committees leading the impeachment investigation and is prepared to testify against the ex-mayor, according to his attorney.

Earlier today, GOP counsel Castor asked Sondland “Did you know that Rudy Giuliani has private business interests in Ukraine?"

Castor questioning Giuliani’s motives is step 1 in arguing that Giuliani was serving his own interests, not Trump’s.

Rudy clearly sees this coming.

— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) November 20, 2019

Giuliani has refused to comply with a subpoena from impeachment leaders demanding testimony and documents.

In addition to the congressional headache, the former mayor faces scrutiny from federal prosecutors in New York who indicted Parnas and Fruman in a sweeping campaign finance scheme last month that overlaps with the impeachment inquiry.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan is investigating whether Giuliani played a part in that scheme.

Did @RudyGiuliani waive attorney client privilege with his now deleted tweet??? https://t.co/330AsbMFqm

— Sunny Hostin (@sunny) November 20, 2019

Giuliani used to run the Manhattan office in the 1980s as the mob-busting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.