Giuliani tries to fix disastrous interview tour, continues to make things worse – ThinkProgress

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After a series of disastrous media interviews, Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s newly minted lead attorney, issued on Friday afternoon a new statement which he promised would “correct” his previous comments.

The three-point statement clarifies precisely nothing.

JUST IN: Rudy Giuliani issues statement "intended to clarify the views I expressed over the past few days." https://t.co/usoHflZShm pic.twitter.com/cHKwDvhMnq

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) May 4, 2018

Giuliani’s first point

Giuliani starts by making a a conclusory statement about campaign law. He then says the payment was made to Stormy Daniels to “resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the president’s family.” Giuliani claims the payment would have been made whether or not Trump was a candidate for president.

But on Thursday on Fox and Friends, Giuliani had a much different story. “Imagine if that came out of October 15, 2016, in the middle of the last debate with Hillary Clinton…Cohen made it go away. He did his job,” Giuliani said.

Giuliani did not explain why, yesterday, he claimed the payment was influenced by the election.

He also did not explain how he knows the purpose of the payment at all. According to Giuliani and others, the payment was made by Cohen without consulting Trump. Giuliani says he has not spoken to Cohen about the payment, so it’s unclear how he would know the actual motivation for the initial payment.

Giuliani’s second point

Giuliani claimed on Wednesday and throughout the day on Thursday that Trump first learned that he reimbursed Cohen for the Stormy Daniels payment a few days ago, even though Trump reimbursed Cohen in 2017. This was hard to believe.

Friday morning on MSNBC, advertising executive Donny Deutsch said that he spoke to Cohen on Thursday night and Cohen told him that Giuliani had no idea what he was talking about.

Then, Trump threw Giuliani under the bus and said he was not familiar with the facts.

Now Giuliani is saying his understanding of when Trump found out about the payments might be wrong. But he’s not saying it is wrong or what is right.

In other words, we still have no idea of when Cohen first discussed his payments to Stormy Daniels, or Trump’s reimbursement, with Trump.

Giuliani’s third point

Giuliani strengthened a potential obstruction case against Trump by offering a third, contradictory explanation for why Trump fired Comey. As ThinkProgress reported:

Early in the interview, Giuliani said that Trump fired James Comey as FBI director because “Comey would not — among other things — say that he wasn’t a target of the investigation.” Giuliani said Trump was “entitled to that.” 

This rationale was not mentioned either in the official memo explaining Comey’s dismissal or Trump’s statements to NBC’s Lester Holt. Avoiding an obstruction charge requires Trump to present a “a consistent, and legal, explanation for the firing.”

In his statement, Giuliani skirts around the issue by claiming Trump had the ability to fire Comey for any purpose, even if his motives were corrupt. This is a legal argument many experts reject.

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New Zealand women call up Watkin, Bezuidenhout for England tour

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Jess Watkin, the 19-year old Central Districts allrounder, and Bernadine Bezuidenhout, the former South African international, have been called up to the New Zealand women squad for their upcoming tour of England and Ireland. The duo was included in a 15-member squad that will play ODIs against England and Ireland, as well as a T20 tri-series featuring New Zealand, England and South Africa.

"Jess and Bernadine are tremendous talents with lots of potential," Kirsty Bond, the national selector, said. "They're aggressive players who possess a broad skillset and that allows them to adapt to changing game situations quickly."

Watkin, who smashed a 123-ball double-century for Central Districts against Wellington at the National Women's Under-21 tournament in December, has won the Central Hinds' young-player-of-the-year award in successive seasons.

"Jess is a special player who we've been keeping an eye on since she debuted domestically in 2013," Bond said. "She's an explosive batter who hits the ball hard, and is a more than useful offspin option, so she offers us great versatility. We've also been impressed by the work she's done on her fitness and physical conditioning over the past season."

Bezuidenhout, who switched camp from South Africa following her relocation to Christchurch in 2015, became eligible for selection after the expiration of a two-year residential stand-down in August 2017. In a six-month international career for South Africa, she played four ODIs and seven T20Is.

"Bernadine's an exciting player and proved her talent by topping the women's domestic T20 runs table this season," Bond said. "She's an innovative player with a wide skillset, and, like Jess, plays that aggressive style of cricket which we believe we need going forward. Bernadine's also an excellent athlete who's good in the park, and that aligns with our intention to build a multi-faceted team unit, particularly for T20 cricket."

The squad will get together for a training camp in Lincoln from May 12 to 15 before departing for Dublin on June 1. The tour will begin with a one-off T20I against Ireland. The teams will then face off in three ODIs, which will be followed by the T20 tri-series. The tour will then conclude with a three-match ODI series against England in July.

New Zealand women squad: Suzie Bates (capt), Bernadine Bezuidenhout, Sophie Devine, Kate Ebrahim, Maddy Green, Holly Huddleston, Hayley Jensen, Leigh Kasperek, Amelia Kerr, Katey Martin, Anna Peterson, Hannah Rowe, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu, Jess Watkin

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