Giuliani: Trump remains ‘very supportive’ of my efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine

President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani said in a new interview that the president remains “very supportive” of his recent efforts in Ukraine to dredge up damaging information on Trump’s political opponents.

Giuliani told CNN on Tuesday that he and Trump are “on the same page.” He also suggested that Trump was aware of his dealings in Ukraine but declined to comment on whether the president had instructed him to take his most recent trip. 

Giuliani, who has become a central figure in the House’s impeachment inquiry, earlier this month traveled to Ukraine and met with a host of officials as part of an effort to find dirt on 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden. Giuliani also met with a former Ukrainian diplomat who has propagated the unfounded theory that Ukraine meddled to help Democrats in the 2016 election, according to photos shared on social media. 

The trip came as the House prepared articles of impeachment against the president and as the Southern District of New York reportedly conducts an investigation into Giuliani’s overseas business dealings. 

Speaking with CNN, Giuliani claimed that during his trip to Ukraine, he gathered evidence of a conspiracy to block his and Trump’s work to investigate corruption involving the former vice president. 

There is no evidence that Joe Biden engaged in wrongdoing while working to oust a Ukrainian prosecutor at the same time his son Hunter Biden was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. 

Giuliani also addressed former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, saying that he spoke with Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about removing her last spring. He acknowledged his efforts to push Yovanovitch out of her post, claiming that she was interfering with his work to find damaging information about Democrats. 

Asked about why he brought the issue to Trump and Pompeo, Giuliani said that Yovanovitch had been “blocking witnesses” from coming “to the U.S., and she had been doing it for a year.” He did not offer evidence to support the claim. 

The State Department in November released a tranche of documents showing that Giuliani and Pompeo repeatedly corresponded with each other before ousting Yovanovitch. The documents appear to show a pair of phone calls between the two about a month before she was ultimately recalled.

Pompeo has not publicly commented on Yovanovitch’s removal or his communications with Giuliani. 

Trump has repeatedly expressed support of Giuliani’s efforts amid the impeachment inquiry. He said earlier this month that Giuliani would make a report and deliver it to Congress and Attorney General William Barr. On Monday, he claimed that Giuliani’s mission in Ukraine was “out of love.” 

Giuliani was spotted at the White House that same day, though Trump did not offer any comment on what the two discussed. 

Barr has reportedly expressed concerns to Trump that Giuliani has become a liability; however, Giuliani dismissed the report, telling CNN that Trump would tell him if such a concern were true. 

“I would think that if Bill Barr has a real complaint about me, President Trump would have told me that,” he said. “And I’ve been told by mutual friends that it’s not true.”

The House is prepared to vote this week on two articles of impeachment charging Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The step will follow an inquiry largely focused on allegations that the president urged Ukraine’s leader to work with Giuliani to find dirt on Biden.