Giuliani 'Made Up' Mueller's Trump-Russia Probe September 1 Deadline, Report Says

President Donald Trump's personal attorney reportedly "made up" his claim that the special counsel investigating Russia's election interference planned to end his inquiry into possible obstruction of justice by the president on September 1.

Rudy Giuliani, who has represented the president for the last month during which he has given numerous interviews in defense of Trump, told The New York Times on Sunday that Mueller's investigators laid out a timeline to him of how the probe would progress while discussing a potential interview of the president.

But an unnamed source familiar with the probe told Reuters that Giuliani's claim was "entirely made-up" and "another apparent effort to pressure the special counsel to hasten the end of his work."

The source also defended Mueller's work, adding: "He'll wrap it up when he thinks he's turned over every rock, and when that is will depend on how cooperative witnesses, persons of interest and maybe even some targets are, if any of those emerge, and on what new evidence he finds, not on some arbitrary, first-of-the-month deadline one of the president's attorneys cooks up."

Giuliani's comments published Sunday were the latest in a series of attempts to cast doubt on the credibility of Mueller's team and its investigation. The former New York City mayor also said he wanted any obstruction of justice case to focus squarely on the word of the president against that of former FBI director James Comey.

"We want the concentration of this to be on Comey versus the president's credibility, and I think we win that and people get that," Giuliani told The Times.

Comey's firing by Trump on May 9 last year led to Mueller's appointment eight days later by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Comey has publicly asserted he believed Trump tried to interfere in the FBI's investigation when the president asked if Comey could "let go" of a case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Giuliani's latest claim came the same day that Trump demanded the Justice Department investigate whether the FBI or DOJ had "infiltrated or surveilled" his campaign for "political purposes" and if any Obama administration officials were involved in such an effort.

I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes - and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2018

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


General assignment reporter/writer covering politics, military, some sports and more. Previously at International Business Times as a breaking news and ... Read more

To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.

Newsweek cover
  • Newsweek magazine delivered to your door
  • Newsweek Voices: Diverse audio opinions
  • Enjoy ad-free browsing on Newsweek.com
  • Comment on articles
  • Newsweek app updates on-the-go
Newsweek cover
  • Newsweek Voices: Diverse audio opinions
  • Enjoy ad-free browsing on Newsweek.com
  • Comment on articles
  • Newsweek app updates on-the-go