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Donald Trump has fallen out with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and refuses to pay the legal bills of the former New York mayor, it has been reported, with the president feeling abandoned and frustrated in his final days at the office. power.
Giuliani played a key role in Trump’s failed attempts to overturn the November presidential election results in court. The lawyer has launched numerous spurious legal challenges, traveling to swing states won by Joe Biden and disseminating false claims that the vote was rigged.
According to the Washington Post, relations between Trump and Giuliani have cooled considerably. Trump has asked his aides not to pay Giuliani’s unpaid fees. The president was reportedly offended by Giuliani’s demand for $ 20,000 a day – a figure the lawyer denies, but which is apparently in writing. White House officials were even told not to make any of Giuliani’s calls.
Commenting on the report, Ken Frydman, who worked as Giuliani’s press secretary in the 1990s, said, “Lie down with dogs. Wake up with fleas and without $ 20,000 a day ”.
The apparent rift with Giuliani – one of Trump’s most loyal and sycophantic supporters – has contributed to the president’s sense of isolation and betrayal, aides suggested.
Trump is said to be unhappy that members of his inner circle have failed to defend him in the wake of last week’s deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol by a crowd of his supporters. Many have remained silent after Wednesday’s vote in the House of Representatives to impeach Trump for the second time.
Among those who have reportedly failed to mobilize are Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, his son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner and his chief of staff Mark Meadows, responsible for Trump’s belief that l he election was rigged.
“The president is quite taken aback,” a senior administration official told the Post. “No one is there.”
Trump’s refusal to pay Giuliani’s bills is another blow to the former federal prosecutor. Giuliani is already being criticized for his own alleged role in instigating Trump supporters to storm the Capitol building.
Addressing Trump’s Save America rally in Washington last week, Giuliani said, “I’m ready to stake my reputation, the president is ready to stake his reputation that we’re going to find crime there.” He pointedly added: “Let’s have a trial by fight.”
Michael Sherwin, Washington DC’s acting US attorney, is investigating the riot. He said he was watching many participants. They include those behind the Capitol invasion, a category that could involve Trump and Giuliani.
A group of Giuliani’s former colleagues from his days as Manhattan’s federal prosecutor blamed him directly for the post-rally chaos. “It was shocking and totally disheartening to have seen one of our former colleagues engage in this conduct,” they wrote. He is also facing a deregistration complaint in New York.
Over the past week, Trump has suffered a series of damaging setbacks. Cabinet members have resigned, companies have severed ties with the Trump organization, and the American Association of Professional Golfers has canceled a deal to host its championship next year at Trump’s course in New Jersey. His longtime bank, Deutsche, said it no longer wanted him as a customer.
Trump would be more isolated than ever. The White House is thinly staffed and those who work there deliberately avoid the Oval Office, the Post reported.
The break with the president risks sinking in Guiliani’s persistent hopes of receiving a presidential pardon. Last year, Giuliani had discussions with Trump about the amnesty for his work on behalf of the president in Ukraine. Criminal charges of illegal campaign donations have been filed against two associates of Giuliani, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman. The trio worked to try and dig the dirt on Biden and his son Hunter.
Additional reporting by Martin Pengelly
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