Rudy Giuliani complicates reporter's attempt to figure out why he was going to Vienna
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Rudy Giuliani's life is getting more complex by the day.
The Atlantic's Elaina Plott wrote on Thursday that she was scheduled to have lunch with Giuliani, President Trump's personal lawyer, on Thursday. That's the only time that would work, he told her Wednesday night, because he was flying to Vienna on Thursday night. Their conversation took place at about the same time two of Giuliani's associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested at a Washington, D.C. airport, carrying one-way tickets to an international destination. The Wall Street Journal later reported they were headed to Vienna.
Parnas and Fruman have been charged with campaign finance violations. Plott met Parnas, Fruman, and Giuliani at a cigar bar earlier this year, she wrote, and Parnas told her they were "great friends" who "work together." Wanting to know why the men were all going to Vienna around the same time, Plott said she called Giuliani, and was surprised when a woman answered, saying she was his communications director. The woman told Plott she'd have to call her back, and then Plott heard Giuliani yell "Asshole!" in the background. The woman apologized, and told Plott he was shouting at the television.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Plott wrote that she finally got a response from Giuliani about an hour later, but he didn't say anything about why everyone was going to Vienna, or why, as he told the Journal, he wasn't meeting with Parnas and Fruman in Austria but rather in D.C. when everyone was back. "I can't comment on it at this time," he said. Read more at The Atlantic.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
How the FCC’s ‘equal time’ rule worksIn the Spotlight The law is at the heart of the Colbert-CBS conflict
-
What is the endgame in the DHS shutdown?Today’s Big Question Democrats want to rein in ICE’s immigration crackdown
-
‘Poor time management isn’t just an inconvenience’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
