President Donald Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani attempted to walk back his declaration that "truth isn't truth," claiming that his statements were not meant to be taken as a "pontification on moral theology."
Giuliani, who has often served as a surrogate for the president to dispense thoughts on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, also disparaged former FBI director James Comey, referring to him as a "proven leaker" and calling his performance as FBI director "disgraceful."
Comey responded soon afterward.
"If we are untethered to truth, our justice system cannot function and a society based on the rule of law dissolves," he wrote, in part.
Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, told NBC's Chuck Todd that President Trump would not be pressured into testifying as part of Mueller's probe.
“What I have to tell you is I am not going to be rushed into having him testify so he gets trapped into perjury,” he said. “When you tell me that he should testify because he is going to tell the truth and he shouldn’t worry, that’s silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth. Not the truth.”
When Todd pointed out that "truth is truth," Giuliani virulently disagreed.
“No, it isn’t truth. Truth isn’t truth," he told Todd. "Don’t do this to me! Donald Trump says ‘I didn’t talk about Flynn with Comey.’ Comey says ‘you did talk about it’––so tell me what the truth is? Which is the truth, maybe you know because you are a genius?”
Giuliani's statements have not gone over well on social media, and many found his attempts at clarification sorely lacking.
The president, meanwhile, has continued to assail Mueller and his investigation.
In tweets earlier today, he was accused of obstructing justice in full purview after he called for the firing of Bruce Ohr, the former associate deputy attorney general, who was named in the controversial Nunes memo which alleged the FBI had abused its surveillance powers.
The president also claimed, once again, that Mueller's investigation is a "Rigged Witch Hunt" and urged his followers to "Study the late Joseph McCarthy," the American senator who in the 1950s alleged that Communist and Soviet spies and their numerous sympathizers had infiltrated the United States federal government, stoking fears of a "Red Scare."
Trump, without providing any evidence for his claim, said Mueller is "Disgraced and discredited" and accused him of overlooking corruption across the political aisle, particularly from "Angry Dems" who "are looking to impact" November's midterm elections.
He also insisted that Mueller and his team had "made up a phony crime called Collusion," which then led calls of "Obstruction (of a phony crime that never existed)."
These claims are at odds with his prior claims that collusion, that is, in this case, secret and illegal cooperation with the Russian government, did happen, but that it was the fault of former Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton and her campaign.
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@elleuk/Instagram
