# Was Giuliani's comment on Fox a fireable gaff, or a deliberate pre-release? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 3, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522 "2018-05-03T17:14:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/21 "2018-05-03T19:11:26Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Seems like Rudy is cleaning the closet and tossing out all the skeletons. He’s got his work cut out for him then. Trump’s closets contain enough skeletons to remake _Jason and the Argonauts_. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/22 "2018-05-03T19:14:10Z")
He was purposely getting ahead of the story that Trump paid Cohen - it was coming out anyway. But I can’t see his statement tying the hush money directly to the campaign as anything but a gaffe, unless the taped conversations were extremely detailed. It still seems like continuing to argue that it was a private matter to protect his marriage would have been the desired approach. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/23 "2018-05-03T19:17:24Z")
Hunter S. Thompson would be about 80 now if he had not taken his own life in 2005. God, how I wish he hadn’t done that. America needs him very badly right now. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/24 "2018-05-03T19:20:02Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Hence, I can’t imagine this bodes well for his marriage. Donald’s mere existence doesn’t bode well for their marriage. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/25 "2018-05-03T19:26:56Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > It still seems like continuing to argue that it was a private matter to protect his marriage would have been the desired approach. I don’t think you could convince a jury that he gives two shits about protecting his marriage. ---
**Author:** ![Celidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Celidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celidin)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/26 "2018-05-03T19:28:57Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > Which is worse? Campaign finance violation charges (the $130k came from Trump’s election campaign), or charges that Trump tried to structure/hide the repayment to Cohen, by making multiple payments of under $10k, to keep them from being reported? Giuliani did state that Trump repaid Cohen over time. I can’t imagine Trump not able to repay $130k all at once, so what other reason would there be for repaying over time? IANAL but it seems like either way you cut it, its _still_ a campaign finance violation (see [here](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/385988-conways-husband-shares-link-to-fec-rules-on-personal-loans)). I vote it’s deliberate, but keeping in the theme of “Stupid Watergate”, _very_ shortsighted and said with no consideration of beyond this next step. Like Stormy Daniels’ lawyer said on Morning Joe this morning - “we’re playing 3-d chess, they’re playing tic-tac-toe”. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/27 "2018-05-03T20:05:38Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I don’t think you could convince a jury that he gives two shits about protecting his marriage. Indeed, I think it’d be pretty easy to send a parade of women up to the stand. When 30 women testify that they’ve had adulterous relations with the Don, then him pleading “cover-up only to save his marriage” rings a little hollow. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/28 "2018-05-03T20:11:46Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > Hunter S. Thompson would be about 80 now if he had not taken his own life in 2005. God, how I wish he hadn’t done that. America needs him very badly right now. Lord, yes. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/29 "2018-05-03T20:12:47Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > She cancelled a trip she was supposed to take with the Philanderer-in-Chief. And she released a picture commemorating the family’s one-year anniversary in the White House…without the president in it. That is magnificent! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/30 "2018-05-03T20:15:04Z")
As usual, IANAL, but I think admitting that Trump was involved might strengthen the defense in Stormy’s lawsuit; if he continued to deny any involvement, they wouldn’t be able to argue as well that the ‘or’ clause applied. ---
**Author:** ![ElderSign](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eldersign/32/8263_2.png) [@ElderSign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElderSign)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/31 "2018-05-03T20:16:54Z")
Alan Dershowitz: “I actually see some overall consistency here. The way I understand what Rudy said, was, look, the president gave this guy a $35,000-a-month retainer. He didn’t earn it. His job was to solve these issues. He had discretion how to do it. He solved the issue by making this payment. The money came out of the retainer that he was paid, the unearned parts of the retainer that he was paid. The president wasn’t told of specific instances of what Cohen had done until he learned about it later. That all is consistent, but it just doesn’t sound consistent when it comes from different sources, each of whom give a little bit of the story.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/32 "2018-05-03T20:29:16Z")
Bah. Dershowitz is in the bag for Trump anyway. I wonder how much he’s being paid under the table? ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/33 "2018-05-03T21:43:40Z")
> [@ElderSign](#): > > Alan Dershowitz: > > “I actually see some overall consistency here. The way I understand what Rudy said, was, look, the president gave this guy a $35,000-a-month retainer. He didn’t earn it. His job was to solve these issues. He had discretion how to do it. He solved the issue by making this payment. The money came out of the retainer that he was paid, the unearned parts of the retainer that he was paid. The president wasn’t told of specific instances of what Cohen had done until he learned about it later. That all is consistent, but it just doesn’t sound consistent when it comes from different sources, each of whom give a little bit of the story.” The problem with Dershowitz’s explanation is that Cohen said that he took out a home equity to loan to finance the payment. And complained to others that he was not repaid. Cohen never said anything about using money from his monthly retainer from Trump, which Dershowitz is saying is a perfectly legal thing that Cohen can use to clean up problems. So why would Cohen lie when he could have told the truth about the legal money he had access to use for that very purpose? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/34 "2018-05-03T22:45:03Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > [Apparently Donald and Cohen were caught on a federal wiretap.](https://www.politicususa.com/2018/05/03/rudy-giuliani-just-admitted-that-trump-was-caught-on-the-cohen-wiretap.html) Seems like Rudy is cleaning the closet and tossing out all the skeletons. [NBC has issued a correction](https://www.politicususa.com/2018/05/03/nbc-michael-cohen-wiretap-correction.html), that it was a “pen register” rather than a wiretap. > [@](#): > > That means it is a log of phone calls that were made from a specific phone line or a specific phone lines. And this case we know that Michael Cohen had several phone lines. In this case, they were able to see who he called or who somebody using his phone lines called but they were not able to listen in real time or record those conversations. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/35 "2018-05-03T22:52:38Z")
> [@Happy Lendervedder](#): > > She cancelled a trip she was supposed to take with the Philanderer-in-Chief. And she released a picture commemorating the family’s one-year anniversary in the White House…without the president in it. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > That is magnificent! The best part is that she’s in the picture with a strapping [Marine](https://www.metro.us/president-trump/melania-trump-anniversary-solo-photo). ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/36 "2018-05-03T22:57:11Z")
I find it entirely credible that Rudy personally debriefed with Donny one-on-one (MOTY to MOTY) and asked what his official position was. And Donny, being a pathological liar and complete idiot, didn’t remember what his previous story(/ies) were and just gave Rudy a rundown of what he believed would be a reasonable “truth” to sell. Rudy, being an egomaniac with an inflated sense of himself, didn’t bother researching what was already out there from the WH and just ran with what he was told was the “Oval Office’s party line”, not caring that it might (and did) run counter to previous explanations. A laughable travesty all around. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/37 "2018-05-03T23:03:39Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > He’s got his work cut out for him then. Trump’s closets contain enough skeletons to remake _Jason and the Argonauts_. [Trump’s closets.](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/paris-catacombs-180950160/) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/38 "2018-05-03T23:23:01Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > I can’t imagine Trump not able to repay $130k all at once, so what other reason would there be for repaying over time? It’s easy to imagine if he’s not really rich. > [@Moriarty](#): > > The best part is that she’s in the picture with a strapping [Marine](https://www.metro.us/president-trump/melania-trump-anniversary-solo-photo). Is that a genuine smile? Under all that makeup she might actually be cute. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/39 "2018-05-04T03:22:04Z")
Of course deliberate. Note that it was prefixed with “I’m about to tell you something that you don’t know” (or something like that). You don’t telegraph an off-the-cuff remark. But still, even as a deliberate move, everything’s going to shit. First Rudy admits trump paid off Stormy\* and lied about it, then contradicts himself the next day and puts Trump in legal jeopardy again. We’re watching his team thrash about in quicksand. - OK, he said trump knew that cohen “fixed” something, and that cohen does this often enough that trump doesn’t ask questions. Which is something I hope to be true, since Cohen’s home / office have been raided. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522/40 "2018-05-04T03:47:18Z")
Did Rudy actually refer to FBI agents as storm troopers? Didn’t he prosecute people at the federal level in no small part because of the evidence gathered by FBI agents? In my mind, I think that might have been Rudy’s biggest gaffe. Firing McCabe and Comey is one thing; smearing essentially all of federal law enforcement is another. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-giulianis-comment-on-fox-a-fireable-gaff-or-a-deliberate-pre-release/813522.md?page=3)