None of those explanations is satisfying even apart from the contradictions. Attorneys don’t normally work gratis for anyone with deep pockets. And as Trump recently told Bill O’Reilly, “Rudy has other clients, other than me. He’s done a lot of work in Ukraine over the years.” One cannot conclude unethical behavior from Giuliani’s anomalous financial arrangement with Trump or his lucrative ties to foreign interests. But those red flags demand scrutiny of his business dealings, at least for anyone earnestly trying to drain the swamp of self-dealing elites, since he has access to the president and an incentive to monetize it.

Read: Why Trump (probably) won’t ditch Rudy

A review of publicly available information is eye-opening. Giuliani has worked with multiple clients who could benefit bigly from influencing U.S. foreign policy and various presidential actions or inactions, as I discovered while delving into a decade’s worth of news articles about his businesses, hoping to understand how they make money. Indeed, it looks as though even as Giuliani was attacking Hunter Biden for accepting a swampy position on the board of a Ukrainian energy company, appearing to monetize his ties to his then-vice-president father, Giuliani or his partners were in contact with clients and potential clients who could profit from Giuliani’s ties to Trump.

That would explain the anomalous behavior: Perhaps Giuliani doesn’t take money from Trump because Trump’s not the client, but the product.

To understand Giuliani’s businesses, first recall how beloved the New York mayor became after the 9/11 attacks. The issue of Time declaring him 2001’s Person of the Year gives a sense of his stature:

When the day of infamy came, Giuliani seized it as if he had been waiting for it all his life, taking on half a dozen critical roles and performing each masterfully … He became America’s homeland-security boss, giving calm, informative briefings about the attacks and the extraordinary response. He was the gutsy decision maker, balancing security against symbolism, overruling those who wanted to keep the city buttoned up tight, pushing key institutions—from the New York Stock Exchange to Major League Baseball—to reopen and prove that New Yorkers were getting on with life. He was the crisis manager, bringing together scores of major players from city, state and federal governments for marathon daily meetings that got everyone working together … Giuliani’s performance ensures that he will be remembered as the greatest mayor in the city’s history.

After leaving office, Giuliani found ways to monetize his reputation. “He founded a number of eponymous companies,” Foreign Policy reported, “including the security and management consulting firm Giuliani Partners, as well as Giuliani Security & Safety.”

The New York Times found evidence of clients residing in countries as varied as Qatar and Canada, and tied Giuliani to TriGlobal Strategic Ventures, a company that helps Westerners with business opportunities in the famously corrupt former Soviet Union, including Ukraine.