Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham urged Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to turn over the information he gathered in Ukraine to the intelligence community to make sure it is not “Russian propaganda.”
Graham, who invited Giuliani to testify about his recent fact-finding trip to Ukraine, told The Daily Beast that Giuliani should probably have professionals vet his material first.
“He has not shared any of that information with me,” Graham told the outlet. “My advice to Giuliani would be to share what he got from Ukraine with the IC [intelligence community] to make sure it’s not Russia propaganda. I’m very suspicious of what the Russians are up to all over the world.”
Asked about Graham’s comment, Giuliani insisted to The Daily Beast that “it’s not Russian propaganda.”
Republicans avoid Rudy:
Republican senators are “actively avoiding” Giuliani, in part because they worry he “might try to pass off Russian conspiracy theories as fact,” The Daily Beast reported.
“I wouldn’t trust Rudy to represent me in a parking dispute so I’d say avoid,” a senior Republican aide told the outlet.
Another aide said their senator had “no interest at all” in meeting with Giuliani, expressing concern that it would be a “waste of time” or worse.
“I do not want my name showing up in a [news] story about what Rudy and the president discuss,” a senior White House official told the outlet. “I don’t want my text messages with [Giuliani] being all over cable news.”
Democrats say Giuliani is pushing Kremlin talking points:
“Rudy Giuliani long ago lost any shred of credibility, especially after the dossier he assembled for the State Department stunningly mirrored Russian propaganda,” Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told The Daily Beast.
“Knowing that, anyone that attempts to defend President Trump’s behavior by citing Rudy’s information over our own intelligence agencies is simply irresponsible, uninformed or willing to be that useful idiot the Kremlin desires,” he added.
