President Trump’s top legal adviser called former FBI Director James B. Comey a liar who should be indicted.
In an interview Wednesday night on Fox News Channel, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani also criticized special counsel Robert Mueller for his demands against a sitting president, which he called unprecedented.
His criticism of Mr. Comey, whom Mr. Trump fired as FBI chief, was based on his giving to a friend his memos on his conversations with Mr. Trump.
“I know James Comey and I know President Trump. Sorry Jim, I know you’re a liar. You’re a disgraceful liar,” Mr. Giuliani told Sean Hannity.
“Comey should be prosecuted for leaking confidential FBI information,” Mr. Giuliani concluded about the memos finding their way via a law professor to the New York Times.
Mr. Giuliani also warned Mr. Mueller against trying to subpoena Mr. Trump to force him to testify under oath.
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“If they issue a subpoena, that would be unprecedented,” he said, referring to the balance of powers and the need for a president not to be distracted. If a president commits a crime, the Constitution’s scheme, Mr. Giuliani said, is for him to be removed from office and/or prosecuted afterward.
Mr. Giuliani outlined contentious negotiations with Mr. Mueller on the terms under which he could interview Mr. Trump.
He said Mr. Trump would want to be treated like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was when she was the object of an investigation, but “Mueller rejected written answers.”
Mr. Giuliani told Mr. Hannity that in addition to written questions being submitted, he wanted Mr. Trump to be able to submit his answers via audio tape.
He also criticized the questions, saying the investigation “has become a witch hunt like the president said. They’re ‘trap’ questions,” designed to catch Mr. Trump in a lie, creating a crime where there hadn’t been one before.
“The crimes now have all been committed by the government and their agents,” Mr. Giuliani concluded, referring to abuse of the FISA court process to spy on the Trump campaign on behalf of the then-sitting president’s party.
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The former mayor, also a former prosecutor, also accused Mr. Comey of falsely exonerating Mrs. Clinton over her use of a private email account and server, and the resulting mishandling of classified information.
“I do not know why the Justice Department is not investigating Hillary Clinton. James Comey rigged the whole case,” he said.
And that wasn’t the worst thing said about Mr. Comey. Mr. Hannity quotes the former FBI boss as saying “Hillary Clinton deeply respects the rule of law,” prompting Mr. Giuliani to reply, “this is a very perverted man.”
• Rowan Scarborough contributed to this report.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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