Giuliani refuses to comply with congressional subpoena, calls inquiry 'a joke'
President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday he is refusing to comply with a subpoena from Congress.
Giuliani, who was subpoenaed for documents related to his communications with Ukraine as part of the House's impeachment inquiry, told ABC News he won't provide them.
"If they enforce it then we will see what happens," Giuliani said of the subpoena. He also revealed to ABC News that he is no longer being represented by attorney Jon Sale, whose hiring he announced two weeks ago. Sale told BuzzFeed News' Zoe Tillman he was always planning to only help Giuliani respond to this subpoena.
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.
Tuesday was the deadline for Giuliani to comply with the subpoena. In a letter late last month, House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), and House Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) cited the whistleblower complaint alleging Trump abused his power in an attempt to get Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, as well as Giuliani having admitted he asked Ukraine to do so.
"I consider their inquiry to be a joke," Giuliani told The New York Daily News Tuesday, calling it an "an abomination of due process."
Sale in a letter to Congress says Giuliani "will not participate because this appears to be an unconstitutional, baseless, and illegitimate 'impeachment inquiry'" and because the subpoena is "overbroad, unduly burdensome" and seeks documents that are "protected by attorney-client, attorney work-product, and executive privileges."
CNN reports people close to Giuliani have been urging him to hire a criminal lawyer, but Giuliani, in reference to no longer being represented by Sale, told the Daily News it's "silly to have a lawyer when I don't need one."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Who is paying for Europe’s €90bn EU loan?Today’s Big Question Kyiv secures crucial funding but the EU ‘blinked’ at the chance to strike a bold blow against Russia
-
Quiz of The Week: 13 – 19 DecemberQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
What’s causing the non-fiction slump?In the Spotlight Readers are turning to crime fiction, romantasy and self help books as a form of escapism
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
