Others who have worked with Giuliani offered a different take on his White House tenure. “He doesn’t really try to be involved in anything,” one former senior White House official told me, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to be candid. “He’s just having a nice time.”

Yet for the differing opinions on the nature of Giuliani’s role, the officials I spoke to were certain that Giuliani had nabbed a White House post in the first place because of his father. A second former senior White House official plainly called it “a nepotism job.” But Munisteri said that anyone who frames it this way “has an ax to grind.” He added that Giuliani, a former professional golfer, was qualified on his own for this particular role, because “it’s the type of position where you need someone with an outgoing personality.” (Andrew Giuliani didn’t return a request for comment.)

Calling Giuliani’s hire a pure nepotism play may be too strong a declaration, but one need look no further than Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and self-appointed Middle East expert, to see how, in even the most senior ranks of this administration, the chasm between experience and responsibility can matter little with the right surname. And one can also look to Giuliani, perhaps, to see the benefits of that dynamic: a well-paying job with unparalleled access to the leader of the free world. But his father’s centrality to the Ukraine scandal could put it all in jeopardy.

Read: Rudy Giuliani: ‘You should be happy for your country that I uncovered this’

Before joining the White House, apart from his golf career, Giuliani volunteered on Trump’s 2016 campaign and worked as a sales intern at a boutique investment bank. What Giuliani may have lacked in government experience, however, he made up for in having Trump’s trust. According to two former White House officials who were close with Giuliani during their tenures, Trump has long been a father figure to his personal lawyer’s son. Giuliani, those officials said, credits Trump with helping him navigate the period after his father’s divorce from his mother, Donna, when he was a teenager, and particularly with helping him repair his relationship with Rudy. “He loves POTUS, big time” for that, one of the officials said, and Rudy told me his own affection for the president stems in large part from helping bring him and his son back together.

Read: Where did Rudy go?

From the beginning of Trump’s presidency, Andrew Giuliani, whom most officials I spoke with described as gregarious and kind, has been loyal to the president. It’s a quality that was especially rare in those early days of the Trump administration, when leaks flowed from the West Wing as if on tap. Having Trump’s trust meant that Giuliani, despite his low-level role, was given a West Wing pass, free to move in and out as he pleased. (Munisteri admitted it was “rare” that associate directors were given so-called blue badges.) And as the person with one of the better golf handicaps in Trump’s inner circle, Giuliani sometimes traveled with the president for the sole purpose of joining him for a round or two. Ultimately, Giuliani’s face time with Trump in that first year rivaled that of far more senior officials.