Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, whose dealings with Ukraine are a key facet of the impeachment case, has been lobbying the President to join his legal team on the Senate floor during his upcoming trial.
Giuliani has pressed Trump to make him part of the team of lawyers who will argue the case against his removal from office on the Senate floor, a White House official and two sources close to the President told CNN. Giuliani has argued that he knows the case against the President inside-out.
The White House declined to comment.
Giuliani has publicly signaled his interest in getting involved in the case, telling reporters while he was at the President’s Mar-a-Lago estate on New Year’s eve: “I would love to try the case.”
HuffPost first reported that Giuliani is lobbying Trump to join the team.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone and outside lawyer Jay Sekulow are expected to lead the President’s defense on the Senate floor, but are also expected to be joined by additional lawyers as the trial goes on, sources said.
Giuliani remains one of Trump’s personal attorneys, but as of now is not expected to join in his defense on the Senate floor.
Sources said they did not expect Giuliani to ultimately join the team and said Trump has been advised against tapping Giuliani because of his involvement in the key facts at the heart of the impeachment case against Trump.
“The President is never going to have him in the Senate trial, starting with the problem that he’s a potential witness,” one source close to Trump said.
Giuliani is a key figure in the events at the heart of the impeachment case against Trump.
The former New York City mayor met with multiple current and former Ukrainian officials and businessmen in an effort to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden. And he played a key role in the effort to pressure the Ukrainian government to publicly announce an investigation into the former vice president.
Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, testified that Trump directed him to work with Giuliani as he worked to pressure Ukraine to open the investigation into Biden.
CNN’s Jim Acosta contributed to this report.
This story has been updated.
