Giuliani defends shifts on Trump Tower statement: ‘I don’t think’ anybody’s lying

Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani on Monday disputed that the White House lied last summer when representatives denied that President Trump dictated a statement about a meeting between his son and a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign, despite now saying he did.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo asked Giuliani why he thought Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders “chose to lie” about the president’s involvement in crafting the statement about the meeting at Trump Tower.

{mosads}“You think maybe somebody could’ve made a mistake?” Giuliani retorted.

“Why is it always that somebody — you think that Jay Sekulow lied?” he continued. “Maybe he just got it wrong, like I got a few things wrong at the beginning of the investigation.”

Rudy Giuliani on shifting Trump Tower story: “It was a mistake. I swear to God” #CuomoPrimeTime https://t.co/x3flltdZdu pic.twitter.com/9ZVXW8vm9E

— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) June 4, 2018

Sekulow denied last July that the president had any involvement with the statement. 

And Sanders said last August that Trump may have given suggestions on the statement “as any father would,” but denied that he dictated it.

Giuliani defended both of them on Monday, but emphasized that a later written statement on the matter was accurate.

“I have no idea how they got it wrong, but they got it wrong. I don’t think either one of them is ever going to deliberately lie,” Giuliani said.

The New York Times reported Saturday that Trump’s lawyers wrote to special counsel Robert Mueller in January to assert the president’s power over Mueller’s investigation.

In the letter, they also confirmed that Trump dictated a statement about the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr., other Trump campaign aides and a Russian lawyer who promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton.

Sanders faced multiple questions on Monday about the shifting narrative, but declined to answer any of them. She instead referred questions to Trump’s legal team.

Sanders has in the past explained misstatements by telling reporters she did not have the right information at the time of her original remarks. She has made no such claim about the Trump Tower statement.

Giuliani has used the changing explanation for the statement to push his argument that Trump should not agree to an interview with Mueller.

He has also dominated headlines after he said Sunday morning that the president has the power to pardon himself, while acknowledging that doing so would likely lead to impeachment.

On Monday, the former New York City mayor was asked if he was worried that his decision to represent Trump was tarnishing his legacy.

“Every night I stay up all night worried about that,” he said sarcastically.

“No, I have a clear conscience. I’m doing my job as a lawyer,” he continued. “I am a lawyer and it’s my job to defend my client. I’m proud of what I’m doing. I’m proud of my client.”