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Trump's other new scandal takes an even more serious turn (request to Tillerson for Giuliani)
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trumps-other-new-scandal-takes-even-more-serious-turn?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma
10/11/19 10:50 AM
By Steve Benen
When Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader, was taken into federal custody in 2016, he faced some pretty serious charges. According to American prosecutors, Zarrab played a key role in a scheme to funnel billions of dollars to Iran, in defiance of U.S. sanctions.
As part of his defense, Zarrab hired a Republican lawyer whose work you may be familiar with. His name is Rudy Giuliani.
If you saw Wednesday night’s show, you know Bloomberg News ran a striking report this week, alleging that Donald Trump personally pressed then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to intervene in the case, encouraging the nation’s chief diplomat to tell the Justice Department to back off the prosecution. Tillerson refused.
For his part, Giuliani conceded to Bloomberg News that he may have “dropped” his client’s name “in a conversation” with Trump. According to the New York Times’ latest reporting, Giuliani did a whole lot more than that.
During a contentious Oval Office meeting with President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in 2017, Rudolph W. Giuliani pressed for help in securing the release of a jailed client, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader, as part of a potential prisoner swap with Turkey.
The request by Mr. Giuliani provoked an immediate objection from Mr. Tillerson, who argued that it would be highly inappropriate to interfere in an open criminal case, according to two people briefed on the meeting…. But at the White House meeting in early 2017, Mr. Giuliani and his longtime friend and colleague, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, pushed back on Mr. Tillerson’s objections.
It’s worth noting for context that at the time of this White House meeting, Giuliani was not yet a member of the president’s legal team. In other words, Trump invited his secretary of State into the Oval Office for a meeting, at which point Tillerson was lobbied by Giuliani – a man with no formal ties to the administration or the president – to help derail a criminal case against a man accused of circumventing U.S. sanctions on Iran.
</snip>
10/11/19 10:50 AM
By Steve Benen
When Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader, was taken into federal custody in 2016, he faced some pretty serious charges. According to American prosecutors, Zarrab played a key role in a scheme to funnel billions of dollars to Iran, in defiance of U.S. sanctions.
As part of his defense, Zarrab hired a Republican lawyer whose work you may be familiar with. His name is Rudy Giuliani.
If you saw Wednesday night’s show, you know Bloomberg News ran a striking report this week, alleging that Donald Trump personally pressed then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to intervene in the case, encouraging the nation’s chief diplomat to tell the Justice Department to back off the prosecution. Tillerson refused.
For his part, Giuliani conceded to Bloomberg News that he may have “dropped” his client’s name “in a conversation” with Trump. According to the New York Times’ latest reporting, Giuliani did a whole lot more than that.
During a contentious Oval Office meeting with President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in 2017, Rudolph W. Giuliani pressed for help in securing the release of a jailed client, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader, as part of a potential prisoner swap with Turkey.
The request by Mr. Giuliani provoked an immediate objection from Mr. Tillerson, who argued that it would be highly inappropriate to interfere in an open criminal case, according to two people briefed on the meeting…. But at the White House meeting in early 2017, Mr. Giuliani and his longtime friend and colleague, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, pushed back on Mr. Tillerson’s objections.
It’s worth noting for context that at the time of this White House meeting, Giuliani was not yet a member of the president’s legal team. In other words, Trump invited his secretary of State into the Oval Office for a meeting, at which point Tillerson was lobbied by Giuliani – a man with no formal ties to the administration or the president – to help derail a criminal case against a man accused of circumventing U.S. sanctions on Iran.
</snip>
Incoming from every angle!!
3 replies
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