Speaking to ABC's This Week host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, Giuliani said that the president has no obligation to cooperate with special counsel Robert Meuller's probe.
"Well, we don't have to. He's the president of the United States. We can assert the same privileges other presidents have," he said. Giuliani added that he would advise against a sit down with Meuller, despite Trump's openness to the idea. "I've got a client who wants to testify…I hope we get a chance to tell him the risk he's taking."
Asked whether Trump could plead the Fifth Amendment, his constitutionally guaranteed right to decline answering questions which might incriminate him, Giuliani said he couldn't be sure. "How could I ever be confident of that?" he said.
Giuliani's remarks instantly prompted Trump's opponents to throw his words back at him.
Giuliani: “Trump may take the fifth.” pic.twitter.com/UQDVt4CDXC
— ElElegante101 (@skolanach) 6 мая 2018 г.
Rudy Giuliani just said Donald Trump might plead the Fifth Amendment. Right now Trump is wishing Rudy would plead the Fifth.
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) 6 мая 2018 г.
Giuliani, who became Trump's lawyer last month, added to the president's troubles this week when he implied that the president had repaid former lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 in hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels, with whom Trump is alleged to have had an affair. The former New York City mayor's tendency to put his foot in his mouth prompted some Twitter users to question his "lawyering" skills.
Rudy secretly hates Trump and is working hard to send him to jail for a very long time ‘Giuliani doesn't rule out that Trump could take Fifth Amendment in Mueller probe’ @CNNPolitics https://t.co/II10luuho0
— Helen Loney (@Worsted2) 6 мая 2018 г.
Good Lord, Rudy Giuliani is bad at lawyering.https://t.co/WqbJKrFd0F
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) 6 мая 2018 г.
Rudy Giuliani shouldn’t suggest Trump could plead the Fifth Amendment if called to testify.
— Jack Bailey 🇺🇸 (@JackBaileyUSA) 6 мая 2018 г.
He should be fighting the obstruction charge on Trump’s constitutional exercise of executive power which can’t be questioned by Mueller.
Time to let Rudy go.#CNNSOTU#SundayMorning
Trump has called claims that he colluded with Russia a "witch hunt." Earlier this year, a House Intelligence Committee investigation concluded that it had not found any evidence to suggest that the presidential candidate had colluded with Russia. It did allege however that Moscow attempted to influence the vote through cyberattacks and by seeking to influence social media users. Russian officials have brushed aside claims of 'meddling', calling the charges "absurd" and pointing to a lack of evidence.
