Rudy Giuliani reportedly wants to avoid the fate of Donald Trump's last personal lawyer: doing time. According to The New York Times, Giuliani—who was under federal investigation for potential money laundering and his dicey efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Trump’s political foes—as recently as last week discussed getting a preemptive pardon from Trump before he's booted from the Oval Office.
Turns out Giuliani, who was supposedly working as Trump's private lawyer for free, wasn't working for free after all. In fact, as Giuliani trotted around the globe last year conducting shadow diplomacy for Trump—particularly in Ukraine where he was palling around with now-indicted Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman—no one had any idea who was paying Giuliani. But perhaps it wasn't exactly on the up and up. Surprise!
In fact, amid the election rush this fall, a superseding indictment dropped against Parnas and Fruman that drew the first direct link between their case and payments made to Giuliani. And a little over a month ago, ex-Parnas associate David Correia pleaded guilty to “defrauding investors in an insurance start-up that paid Giuliani for consulting work and to lying to federal regulators investigating suspected campaign finance violations.”
Asked about his pardon conversations with Trump, Giuliani declined to comment on discussions with his client—he apparently believes asking one’s client for pardons is privileged. That's not exactly how it works. But then again, Rudy's been making up a lot of stuff lately. For the past two years, Giuliani has nearly matched Trump's unique ability to swim in a miasma of conspiracy. From Joe Biden's supposed corruption to Hunter Biden's theoretical wet laptop to a mythical "pattern" of fraud that stole the election from Trump—Giuliani has been going toe to toe with Trump in their house-of-mirrors universe.
But the one reality both men seem clear about is that Giuliani's work has been criminal and Trump almost surely has an interest in making sure Giuliani isn't cutting any deals with federal prosecutors to avoid jail time. After all, one’s allegiance to the boss only goes so far when it comes time to pay the piper.