President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was acting as diplomat on behalf of his client to pressure Ukrainian officials to announce an investigation into Trump's political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Now that Trump's pressure campaign has hurtled him toward impeachment, Giuliani is leaping to save his client's and his own hide by railing against the credibility of the career diplomats who testified in last week's public impeachment hearings.
Unfortunately for Rudy, Republican and Trump critic George Conway is a lawyer as well, and he vocally disagreed with Giuliani's take.
Conway pointed out that acting Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor testified that Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland informed him that crucial, congressionally approved military aid was being withheld from Ukraine until its President announced an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden.
In closed door testimony prior to Taylor's, Sondland initially denied this. When the transcripts of Taylor's closed door testimony were released, Sondland hastily amended his testimony to admit that he told officials the aid was contingent on the investigation's announcement. Sondland denies that the President explicitly instructed him to do this.
Another legal expert agreed.
Rudy's argument gave credence to the claim that he's a lawyer in name only.
Conway wasn't the only one to point out the flaws in Rudy's argument.
Rudy's argument will likely hold even less water after today. The two witnesses publicly testifying—Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and assistant to the Vice President Jennifer Williams—were firsthand witnesses to Trump's infamous July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which spurred the impeachment inquiry in the first place.
