Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said he will not comply with a congressional subpoena on Oct. 15.
Giuliani confirmed to ABC News that “if they enforce it, then we will see what happens.”
He said he is no longer using the services of lawyer Jon Sale, saying that if Congress were to enforce the subpoena, he will retain counsel.
“Jon was helping me with assessing (the) congressional request. He will submit his letter and he will be finished with what I asked him to do,” Giuliani told CNN.
Oct. 15 marks the deadline for Giuliani to comply with three House committees working on the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Giuliani currently serves as Trumps personal lawyer.
“A growing public record indicates that the President, his agent Rudy Giuliani, and others appear to have pressed the Ukrainian government to pursue two politically-motivated investigations,” Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) wrote. “The Committees have reason to believe that you have information and documents relevant to these matters.”
The congressmen also alleged that he “admitted on national television that, while serving as the presidents personal attorney, he asked the government of Ukraine to target former Vice President Joe Biden.”
The impeachment inquiry, initiated on Sept. 24, is centered on Trumps call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. An anonymous whistleblower complaint following the phone call has accused the president of leveraging his office and withholding U.S. aid to Ukraine in order to obtain “dirt” on a political opponent—2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
Trump has repeatedly maintained that his phone call with the Ukrainian president was “perfect” and that he had asked Zelensky for help to investigate the alleged corruption around Bidens dealings. The transcript, released by the White House, also didnt show any quid pro quo.
Giuliani previously told ABC that he would only cooperate with the congressional request if Trump, who is his client, approved of it.
“Im a lawyer. Its his privilege, not mine,” Giuliani said in September. “If he decides that he wants me to testify, of course Ill testify, even though I think Adam Schiff is an illegitimate chairman. He has already prejudged the case.”
Trump, meanwhile, defended Giuliani on Oct. 12 after a New York Times article claimed that prosecutors are investigating whether he broke lobbying laws. Federal authorities in New York are behind that probe.
