Rudy Giuliani - President Trump's 'Shadow Secretary of State'

Journey to Trump

Before becoming a central figure in the Democratic impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani was considered a remarkable figure in American politics, with a career that left many marks in important positions. Born into an Italian family that immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century, few people knew that Giuliani should have become a priest, following his family's direction. But after graduating from New York Law School, Rudy Giuliani began his political career by joining the Democratic Party and working on the staff of US Deputy Attorney General Harold Tyler under then Republican President Gerald Ford.

But Rudy Giuliani would never have had the chance to become a close aide to President Donald Trump if he hadn't switched from the Democratic to the Republican party in 1983 under President Ronald Reagan and moved to New York.

With a background as a lawyer and extensive experience in the legal field, Rudy Giuliani transformed New York from a city described as “undisciplined, lawless” into a city of order and discipline, with the crime rate in 2001 only one-third of the time he took office.

Rudy Giuliani's most memorable image is associated with New York City's darkest day: September 11, 2001. His appearance at the World Trade Center site after the terrorist attack that shook the world brought great reassurance to the public, making him Time's Person of the Year in 2001.

Having served as an advisor to President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, he officially joined Donald Trump's legal team in April 2018 to handle the Democrats' long-running investigation into Russian interference and the relationship between Trump campaign members and Russia during the presidential election.

Mr. Rudy Giuliani - the focus of the impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump. Photo: The Politico

Public opinion still has many questions about Rudy Giuliani's real role when working alongside President Trump.

At that time, Rudy Giuliani continuously appeared in the media with stories defending Donald Trump. However, public opinion still raised many questions about his real role when working alongside the President, whether he simply worked as a personal lawyer or whether he actually provided legal advice to the President or not.

These suspicions were further heightened after the news that President Donald Trump tried to pressure the President of Ukraine to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden. A series of information revealed by witnesses all pointed to Rude Giuliani, and his image was described as a “shadow secretary of state”, managing the most important relations between the US and Ukraine to promote the investigation of Joe Biden and his son as accused by the Democrats.

The decisive link in the "Ukraine affair"

The report released by the US House of Representatives accuses President Donald Trump of “personally and through representatives inside and outside the government, soliciting intervention from the Ukrainian government to benefit his re-election rather than to protect an ally from Russia.” And the most decisive “representative” the Democrats are targeting is none other than Rudy Giuliani. The Democrats cite witness testimony that shows that Rudy Giuliani held meetings with the Prosecutor General of Ukraine in New York and Warsaw, Poland, while his “associates” met with the head of Ukraine’s security service and an adviser to President Zelensky.

During the conversation, Ukrainian government officials were told that the success of their relationship with the US government would depend on President Zelensky’s willingness to “play the game” — a reference to $400 million in US military aid to Ukraine. A week after the July 25, 2019, call between Donald Trump and Zelensky, Giuliani also allegedly traveled to Spain to meet with an aide to President Zelensky to discuss the details of the call in more detail.

The 300-page report has just been released by the US House of Representatives. Photo: VOA

Rudy Giuliani does not deny the allegations that he met with many important figures in Ukraine. He just has the wisdom and experience to sketch a different story behind these meetings.

He spoke with Ukrainian officials and asked them to investigate Joe Biden in order to “determine that the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election was a Democratic plot to overthrow President Donald Trump.” His trip to Ukraine and meetings with many figures were described by him as “an international campaign” to prove that Donald Trump’s opponents deserved to be judged more than President Donald Trump.

Giuliani has insisted that he acted on behalf of the State Department, not the president, and that the State Department was fully aware of his actions. After the House released its report outlining evidence in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani flew to Europe on Tuesday to meet with a former Ukrainian prosecutor and other officials.

Mr. Rudy Giuliani is considered one of President Trump's most loyal figures. Photo: BBC

So far, Rudy Giuliani has proven what people have been saying about him, that he is one of the most loyal figures in Donald Trump's apparatus by trying to protect the President from all attacks from the Democrats. Despite all the moves of the investigators, Rudy Giuliani is still full of confidence when declaring the Democrats' investigation is "crap", and "when it's all over, people will call me a hero". Donald Trump himself also called him "a warrior".

Democrats are currently trying to complete the impeachment inquiry against Mr. Trump before the end of 2019 and send it to the Senate, thereby promoting a trial in January 2020. And the public is waiting to see how the most important and solid shield will help President Donald Trump overcome this important moment.