Donald Trump disagreed with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and refuses to pay the legal bills of the former New York mayor, it was reported, with the president feeling abandoned and frustrated during his last days in office.
Giuliani played a key role in Trump’s failed attempts to overturn the results of the November presidential election in the courts. The lawyer mounted numerous spurious legal challenges, traveling to decisive states won by Joe Biden, and spreading false claims that the vote was rigged.
According to the Washington Post, relations between Trump and Giuliani have cooled dramatically. Trump instructed his advisers not to pay Giuliani’s outstanding fees. The president would have been offended by Giuliani’s demand for $ 20,000 a day – a number the lawyer denies, but which is apparently in writing. White House officials were even instructed not to take any calls from Giuliani.
Commenting on the report, Ken Frydman, who worked as Giuliani’s press secretary in the 1990s, said: “Lie with dogs. Wake up with fleas and no $ 20,000 a day ”.
The apparent break with Giuliani – one of Trump’s most loyal and flattering supporters – contributed to the president’s feeling of isolation and betrayal, advisers suggested.
Trump is unhappy that members of his inner circle have failed to defend him after last week’s deadly attack on the United States Capitol by a crowd of his supporters. Many were silent after Wednesday’s House of Representatives vote to impeach Trump for the second time.
Those who allegedly failed to advance include Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, his son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, and his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, responsible for yielding to Trump’s belief that the election was rigged.
“The president is very tense,” a senior government official told the Post. “No one is out there.”
Trump’s refusal to pay Giuliani’s bills is another blow to the former federal prosecutor. Giuliani is already under attack for his own role in inciting Trump supporters to break into the Capitol building.
Addressing Trump’s rally to save America in Washington last week, Giuliani said: “I am willing to stake my reputation, the president is willing to stake his reputation on the fact that we will find crime there.” He clearly added, “We are going to do a combat trial.”
Michael Sherwin, the acting attorney general in Washington DC, is investigating the riot. He said he is looking at several participants. They include those who instigated the invasion of the Capitol, a category that may involve Trump and Giuliani.
A group of Giuliani’s former colleagues of his time as a Manhattan federal prosecutor blamed him directly for the post-riot confusion. “It was shocking and totally disheartening to see one of our former colleagues engaging in this behavior,” they wrote. He is also facing an exclusion complaint in New York.
Last week, Trump suffered a series of damaging reversals. Cabinet members resigned, corporations severed ties with the Trump organization, and the United States Association of Professional Golfers canceled a deal to hold their championship next year at the Trump course in New Jersey. His longtime bank, Deutsche, said he no longer wants him as a customer.
Trump is more isolated than ever. The White House has few employees, and those who work there deliberately avoid the Oval Office, the Post reported.
The break with the president could shatter Guiliani’s hopes of receiving presidential pardon. Last year, Giuliani held discussions with Trump about receiving an amnesty for his work on behalf of the president in Ukraine. Criminal accusations of illegal campaign donations were made against two associates of Giuliani, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman. The trio worked to try to dig up the dirt from Biden and his son Hunter.
Additional reporting by Martin Pengelly