Unless He Pleads Insanity, Giuliani Is Going To Prison

Super Ethical, Always Legal by Nancy Ohanian

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal quoted Señor Trumpanzee admitting what people who watch Giuliani have long known: "He looks for corruption wherever he goes." Republicans have been claiming Giuliani has been helping Trump with foreign affairs. Giuliani, on the other hand, has claimed je was just tending to his own business. Yep-- looking for opportunities "for corruption wherever he goes." That's Rudy alright.

CNN reporter Erica Orden wrote yesterday that "Federal prosecutors in New York have subpoenaed the brother of one of the recently indicted associates of Rudy Giuliani, according to two people familiar with the matter, as they escalate their investigation in the campaign-finance case." Igor and Lev-- and presumably Giuliani-- are in deep doo-doo, of their own making. It was Igor's bro-- Steven-- who got subpenaed. According to CNN, "Investigators have doled out multiple subpoenas and conducted several property searches, in one case blowing the door off a safe to access the contents." That sounds serious. While Democratic presidential nominee hopeful/pipsqueak, Mayo Pete was saying how he'd appoint more judges like Kennedy and Souter, neutral right-of-center wishy washy "moderates," a strong justice-and-values-driven judge has been signing some search warrants that are probably not making Trump and Barr very happy.

Federal prosecutors told a judge this week that they are sifting through data from more than 50 bank accounts. In addition, they've put a filter team in place as they examine communications obtained via search warrant and subpoena, sensitive to material that could be subject to attorney-client privilege because Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal attorney, counted Parnas as a client. A filter team is a separate set of prosecutors who are assigned to examine evidence and set aside material that is privileged.

Since the October 9 arrests, federal agents visited the New York home of Steven Fruman and served him with a subpoena from Manhattan federal prosecutors, the people familiar with the matter said.

...It's not clear why prosecutors are interested in Steven Fruman, or what specifically agents sought from the safe. Steven Fruman is listed in US Security and Exchange Commission filings as the vice president of FD Import & Export, the same company his brother ran.

Igor Fruman also appeared to use the address of a property in Woodmere, New York, that belongs to his brother when making certain political donations, according to Federal Election Commission and other public records.

As they pursue an ongoing investigation into Igor Fruman, Parnas and their co-defendants, prosecutors are also investigating Giuliani's Ukranian business dealings... In recent days, Giuliani has been seeking a criminal-defense attorney, CNN has reported. He says he has not been contacted by the FBI or by New York federal prosecutors.

Bess Levin noted in Vanity Fair yesterday that Giuliani "is now being investigated by the DOJ’s criminal division, in addition to a probe by the Southern District of New York... That makes things awkward not only for Giuliani, in that he’d presumably like to stay out of prison, but also for numerous members of the government with whom he worked on his Ukraine scheme, as well as, of course, for the president. "He appears to be a subject, if not a target, of an active investigation. So to have him be a part of the legal team would be troublesome, to say the least," Greg Brower, who worked as the FBI’s top liaison to Congress until 2018, told Politico. "At best it’s a messy situation and more likely it’s just completely dysfunctional." According to reporter Darren Samuelsohn, Giuliani was notably absent from the White House this week when Trump’s other lawyers huddled with him for an impeachment strategy session.

Giuliani has also been notably absent from the TV circuit of late, which suggests a rare prudence for a man who has had no problem incriminating his presidential client on television before. In recent days the anti-ferret activist turned presidential attorney’s only public comment has been a tweet that read, “With all the Fake News let me make it clear that everything I did was to discover evidence to defend my client against false charges. Dems would be horrified by the attacks on me, if my client was a terrorist. But they don’t believe @realDonaldTrump has rights. Justice will prevail.” Per Politico, a “back channel effort has been underway for more than a week” to help Giuliani lawyer up, and potential charges include “everything from violating federal statutes dealing with bribery, foreign lobbying registration, and disclosure to making false statements to government officials.”

Giuliani and Hunter Biden weren't just looking to squeeze the Ukrainians. Eric Levitz reported that both crooks did legal work for the same slimeball Romanian real estate tycoon charged with corruption, Gabriel Popoviciu. "As of last month," reported Levitz, "none of the fallout from Rudy’s Kiev vacation was enough to quell his appetite for unearthing Hunter Biden’s shady dealings in the former Soviet bloc. 'We haven’t moved to Romania yet,' Giuliani told Fox News in September, referring to Hunter’s unspecified illicit activities in that nation. 'Wait ‘til we get to Romania.'"

As it happens, Hunter Biden did once enjoy an ethically questionable gig in Romania. In 2016, when his father was still vice-president, Hunter agreed to provide legal advice to Gabriel Popoviciu, a Romanian real-estate tycoon who’d recently been convicted on charges of corruption, and was mounting an appeal. In 2014, Joe Biden had forcefully advocated for the Romanian government to crack down on graft within its borders. And there is no evidence that Popoviciu secured any favors from the White House as a result of hiring Hunter. But it is extremely plausible that he hired Biden’s son in the hope that doing so he might ingratiate himself to the Obama administration. If Popoviciu merely wanted the advice of any undistinguished young attorney, he presumably could have found one with a lower hourly rate-- and more familiarity with the finer points of Romanian law-- in his home country.

So, you can understand why a stickler for legal ethics like Rudy Giuliani would object to Hunter’s behavior. After all, Popoviciu ultimately lost his appeal, and was sentenced to seven years in prison for his kleptocratic land deal. To monetize one’s affiliation with the White House-- by providing legal assistance to such a crook-- goes against everything Giuliani stands for.

Which, to be clear, is nothing. Rudy Giuliani stands for nothing (he’s more the sitting type). As NBC News reports:

Popoviciu was convicted in 2016 but launched an appeal. He assembled a high profile legal team to fight the conviction, which included former FBI director Louis Freeh … Freeh continued working on behalf of Popoviciu [after his appeal failed]. Last year, he tapped Giuliani, his longtime friend, to assist in his Romanian work.

Giuliani’s hiring created what appears in hindsight a strange-bedfellows arrangement. Giuliani, who has been the loudest critic of Hunter Biden’s work in the Ukraine, was working on the same side as the younger Biden in Romania.

In August 2018, Giuliani wrote a letter to Romania’s president and prime minister criticizing the country’s recent efforts to rein in corruption as overly aggressive. Giuliani’s position contradicted the U.S. stance on anti-corruption efforts in Romania.

I’m starting to think that Team Trump’s avowed concerns with corruption in Eastern Europe may not be entirely on the level.

Although it just because public yesterday, a couple of weeks ago, Giuliani butt-dialed an NBC News reporter at 11:07 pm and the 3 minute long message went right to voicemail. It was late in New York, but it was early in [where the hell] and the reporter heard 3 minutes of Giuliani hacking it up with [who the hell?].

Disorganized Crime

"You know," Giuliani says at the start of the recording. "Charles would have a hard time with a fraud case 'cause he didn't do any due diligence."

It wasn't clear who Charles is, or who may have been implicated in a fraud. In fact, much of the message's first minute is difficult to comprehend, in part because the voice of the other man in the conversation is muffled and barely intelligible.

But then, Giuliani says something that's crystal clear.

"Let's get back to business."

He goes on.

"I gotta get you to get on Bahrain."

Giuliani is well-connected in the kingdom of Bahrain.

Last December, he visited the Persian Gulf nation and had a one-on-one meeting with King Hamad Bin Isa al-Khalifa in the royal palace. "King receives high-level U.S. delegation," read the headline of the state-run Bahrain News Agency blurb about the visit.

Giuliani runs a security consulting company, but it's not clear why he would have a meeting with Bahrain's king. Was he acting in his capacity as a consultant? As Trump's lawyer? Or as an international fixer running a shadow foreign policy for the president?

In May, Giuliani told the Daily Beast his firm had signed a deal with Bahrain to advise its police force on counterterrorism measures. But the Bahrain News Agency account of the meeting suggested Giuliani was viewed more like an ambassador than a security consultant. "HM the King praised the longstanding Bahraini-U.S. relations, noting keenness of the two countries to constantly develop them," it said.

The voicemail yielded no details about the meeting. But Giuliani can be heard telling the man that he's "got to call Robert again tomorrow."

"Is Robert around?" Giuliani asks.

"He's in Turkey," the man responds.

Giuliani replies instantly. "The problem is we need some money."

The two men then go silent. Nine seconds pass. No word is spoken. Then Giuliani chimes in again.

"We need a few hundred thousand," he says.

It's unclear what the two men were talking about. But Giuliani is known to have worked with a Robert who has ties to Turkey.

His name is Robert Mangas, and he's a lawyer at the firm Greenberg Traurig LLP, as well as a registered agent of the Turkish government.

Giuliani himself was employed by Greenberg Traurig until about May 2018.

Mangas provided an affidavit in the case of Reza Zarrab, a Turkish gold trader charged in the United States with laundering Iranian money in a scheme to evade American sanctions.

Giuliani was brought on to assist Zarrab in 2017. He traveled to Turkey with his former law partner Michael Mukasey and attempted to strike a deal with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to secure the release of their jailed client, alarming the federal prosecutor leading the case.

Giuliani and Mangas were both employed by Greenberg Traurig at the time. The firm and Mangas had registered with the Justice Department to lobby the U.S. government on behalf of Turkey, according to an affidavit from Mangas.

Mangas provided the affidavit at the request of a judge to explain whether there was any conflict in Giuliani representing Zarrab while still employed by a firm registered to lobby on behalf of Turkey.

Mangas, who did not return a request for comment, says in the court document that Giuliani was never involved in the representation of Turkey.

A Greenberg Traurig spokesperson said Mangas has not been to Turkey since 2013. He joined the firm in 2014, according to his affidavit.

"Mr. Mangas has not spoken to Mr. Giuliani since before he left Greenberg Traurig in May 2018," the spokesperson said.

Giuliani's conversation partner can be heard responding to the "few hundred thousand" comment. But it's possible to make out only the beginning of his answer, and even that is somewhat garbled.

"I'd say even if Bahrain could get, I'm not sure how good [unintelligible words] with his people," the man says.

"Yeah, okay," Giuliani says.

"You want options? I got options," the man says.

"Yeah, give me options," Giuliani replies.