Two observations about Giuliani’s unhinged performance:
ONE: He admits for the very first time that Manafort colluded with Russians. However, he tries to convince us that was always his position, knowing perfectly well he’s lying. All the posturing by Giuliani and Trump up to this point has been to convince us that Trump never colluded with Russia and neither did anyone else around him. Over and over Trump has spouted the blanket statement, “NO COLLUSION” – Trump didn’t say “NO COLLUSION by me, but maybe a little collusion by some of the guys who work for me.”
TWO: Giuliani’s indignation regarding John Solomon’s “revelations” in The Hill article is completely manufactured. First, the article is an opinion piece, not a factual report. Second, Solomon’s sourcing is dubious to say the least and, third, he’s just nit picking when he claims the FISA warrant against Carter Page should never have been issued.
Giuliani passionately agrees, claiming the application for the warrant should have more strongly indicated that the dossier might be biased – and here Giuliani really ramps up his rant – but he’s completely off base. If you look at the section he refers to (p. 16), the application clearly states, “The FBI speculates that the identified U.S. person was likely looking for information that could be used to discredit Candidate # 1’s [Trump’s] campaign.” Hence, the dossier may have been created for the purpose of smearing Trump – this possibility is not hidden from the judge as Solomon and Giuliani would have us believe. In the end, the judge rightfully issued the warrant, taking into account, not only the possibly flawed dossier, but also all the other supporting material in the application (the previous warrants against Page, his Russian contacts, etc.).
Most importantly though, it’s just foolish of Giuliani to keep bringing up the FISA controversy. The outcome of that debate is not going to change where Trump is today – swept up in one of the most crucial investigations of our time.
This meme says it best:
