NEW YORK (AP) -
The Latest on President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani and his plans to encourage investigations in Ukraine that he thinks would help Trump politically. (all times local):
1:05 a.m.
Democrats denounced a plan by President Donald Trump’s personal attorney to push Ukraine to open investigations that he hopes could benefit Trump politically, decrying it as an overt attempt to recruit foreign help to influence a U.S. election.
But Rudy Giuliani late Friday said he does not plan to go to the Ukraine because of concerns about who he would be dealing with there.
Giuliani told told Fox News Friday night that he “was not going to go because he thinks he would be - quote - “walking into a group of people that are enemies of the president … in some cases enemies of the United States.”
His statement left many unanswered questions about what Giuliani might do about his Ukraine concerns.
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12:10 p.m.
President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer says he is urging Ukraine to open investigations that could benefit Trump politically in the United States.
Rudy Giuliani used Twitter on Friday to explain his rationale for traveling to Kiev to push for two investigations.
One is the origin of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference.
The other is the involvement of 2020 rival Joe Biden’s son in a gas company owned by a Ukrainian oligarch.
Giuliani wrote to Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy to “explain to me why Biden shouldn’t be investigated” and accused the Democrats of “interfering.”
Democrats rushed to denounce Giuliani. Rep. Jerrod Nadler said American politics were in “a sorry state” if the president’s lawyer was seeking foreign interference.
Giuliani’s trip was first reported by The New York Times.
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