Rudy Is Screwed

By Bess Levin, Vanity Fair

16 November 19

The president’s lawyer is now the subject of three different Ukraine investigations.

ast Saturday, Rudy Giuliani was spotted dining out at a Manhattan hotspot and loudly gabbing about his plans to start a podcast, like a man without a care in the world. And in fairness, it’s possible that, thanks to the brain decay the ex-mayor has clearly suffered, he thinks he has nothing to worry about. Other people in his position, though, would likely be more than a bit concerned about their future, given that, based on a new report, the president’s lawyer is now the subject of three different investigations.

According to Bloomberg, Giuliani is being investigated by federal prosecutors for potential campaign-finance violations and failure to register as a foreign agent, as “part of an active investigation into his financial dealings, according to three U.S. officials.” (Giuliani, his lawyers, and the White House did not respond to Bloomberg’s requests for comment.) The probe could also reportedly include possible charges for conspiracy or violating laws against bribing foreign officials.

Incidentally, that probe is on top of a counterintelligence investigation as well as a criminal investigation into Giuliani’s business relationship with Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, the two men who’ve been charged with conspiracy, falsification of records, and lying to the FEC about their political donations. (Parnas and Fruman have both pleaded not guilty.) Giuliani’s work with Parnas was reportedly related to a company called Fraud Guarantee, though in addition, Parnas and Fruman are said to have introduced Giuliani to “several current and former senior Ukrainian prosecutors to discuss” Joe Biden, and in July, Parnas accompanied Giuliani to a breakfast meeting with Kurt Volker, then the U.S. special representative for Ukraine, where Giuliani allegedly mentioned that he was looking into Biden and 2016 election interference, according to the Wall Street Journal. In the indictment of Parnas and Fruman, prosecutors claimed that Parnas sought the assistance of a U.S. congressman in “causing the U.S. Government to remove or recall the then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine.” That ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, was subsequently removed from her post after Giuliani told Donald Trump that she was undermining him and obstructing efforts to investigate Biden.

On Wednesday a pair of government officials told the House Intelligence Committee that Giuliani had been carrying out a shadow campaign in Ukraine at Trump’s direction. “I believe he was looking to dig up political dirt against a potential rival in the next election cycle,” said George Kent, deputy assistant secretary of state in the European and Eurasian bureau. Bill Taylor, the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, said that there was an “irregular policy channel” with Ukraine that was being “guided” by Giuliani. But hey, at least the ex-mayor still has the support of the president, right? Wellll:

Top House Republican sources tell Axios that one impeachment survival strategy will be to try to distance President Trump from any Ukraine quid pro quo, with Rudy Giuliani potentially going under the bus.

On Thursday, Giuliani told a reporter that he is not worried about any sort of bus-throwing scenario, “but I do have very, very good insurance, so if [Trump] does, all my hospital bills will be paid.” (Giuliani‘s attorney Mark Costello immediately interjected to insist his client was just “joking.”)