According to a new book by journalists Susan Glasser and Peter Baker, former national security adviser to Donald Trump H.R. McMaster was so worried about Rudy Giuliani that he forbade him from meeting with the former president in private.
Tuesday, Glasser provided an explanation of why McMaster believed Giuliani’s influence may be so dangerous.
“Even at the very beginning, this is back in 2017 and 2018 when H.R. McMaster was the national security adviser, he was concerned about Giuliani’s lack of transparency,” Glasser said. “Giuliani never served officially in the government because even Trump wouldn’t appoint him to be secretary of state — that’s the job that Giuliani wanted at the beginning… so he never had to disclose his clients. There was a concern that he didn’t know, that McMaster didn’t know on whose behalf Giuliani would be speaking when he entered the oval office.”
Giuliani was a key player in the plot to persuade the Ukrainian government to open an inquiry into the Biden family, and he is currently the subject of an investigation for perhaps representing foreign clients while not being a registered lobbyist. In 2019, while prosecutors looked into whether his actions violated foreign lobbying rules, his work came under suspicion.
The Manhattan US attorney’s office specifically sought to determine whether Giuliani’s activities in Ukraine were conducted simply in his role as Trump’s counsel or whether he also represented outside parties who hoped to gain from Trump’s reelection.
When FBI investigators raided Giuliani’s apartment, office, and the residence of his friend Victoria Toensing in Washington, DC, the inquiry entered a combative new phase. They took 18 of Giuliani’s electronic devices as well as those belonging to Jo Ann Zafonte, who served as his longtime personal assistant.
But in recent months, the investigation has seemed to wind down, and The New York Times reported in August that the government had just given Giuliani his devices back, indicating that he won’t likely be charged with a crime related to his work in Ukraine.
Giuliani is under investigation for possibly serving foreign clients while not being a registered lobbyist. He was a significant participant in the scheme to urge the Ukrainian government to launch a probe into the Biden family.
