Trump Defense Lawyer Jane Raskin Calls Rudy Giuliani ‘A National Hero’ In Senate Trial

President Donald Trump’s defense counsel defended Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, a 15-minute speech about his role in the Ukraine scandal on day seven of the Senate impeachment proceedings.

Jane Raskin, who represented Trump alongside Giuliani in Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s Russian investigation, presented the argument to the Senate. 

In her 15-minute speech, she accused the Democrats of fabricating a misleading narrative, which had purposely misconstrued news about about Giuliani and his incentives in Ukraine. Her rebuttal mainly revolved around noting Giuliani’s motives in launching a Kyiv probe.

Raskin asserted that the Democrats had been using Giuliani as a red-herring, calling him a “colorful distraction.”

“The House managers would have you believe that Mr. Giuliani is at the center of this controversy,” Raskin claimed. “They’ve anointed him the proxy villain of the tale, the leader of a rogue operation. Their presentations were filled with ad hominem attacks and name-calling … but I suggest to you he’s front and center in their narrative for one reason alone: to distract from the fact that the evidence does not support their claims.”

Raskin called Giuliani a “national hero”  asserting that his efforts had not been about the 2020 presidential election.

“He was doing what good defense attorneys do.… He was gathering evidence about Ukrainian election interference to defend his client against the false allegations investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller,” she said.

The 15-minute time slot that Trump’s counsel had allocated to Giuliani’s defense perplexed many, as the GOP has expressed skepticism about his role in Ukraine.