Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a frequent opinion contributor to CNN and The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author; view more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) It is bad enough that the President of the United States is breaking long-standing ethical standards in US government, but when President Donald Trump's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, stepped into the contentious battle over corruption in another country, Romania, he embarrassed the United States by speaking out against clean government; he made the uphill battle for democracy advocates in Romania even steeper; and he muddied US foreign policy, taking a stand directly contrary to that of the US State Department.

Romanians have been fighting what may be a losing battle to uproot corruption in their country. The tens of thousands who have taken to the streets to defend the rule of law had until now seen the United States as an ally. That's why, when a local news site published a letter from Giuliani to Romania's President, it detonated a bombshell of disbelief.

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Incredibly, Giuliani's letter to the country's largely-ceremonial President urged Romania to throttle the National Anticorruption Directorate, known as DNA, claiming that anti-corruption efforts were causing "damage to the rule of law ... under the guise of effective law enforcement." Giuliani proposed that "amnesty should be given to those who have been prosecuted and convicted through the excesses of the DNA." And he warned that the anti-graft drive risks driving away foreign investment.

Giuliani is an independent lawyer and businessman. He is free to defend criminals and crooks. But he is also a very high-profile lawyer for President Trump. People around the world see him on television speaking on Trump's behalf. So, his words, even if he maintains they have no connection with the US government, carry special resonance.

Romanian citizens and the country's opposition have fought valiantly to stop the ruling party's campaign to defang the DNA in a battle for the future of a country in a region where authoritarian governments have been steadily dismantling democratic practices. Half a million people took to the streets last year to protest a bill that decriminalized certain forms of corruption. And when the ruling party fired the head of the DNA, Laura Codruta Kovesi, the late Republican Sen. John McCain, along with Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat, wrote Romania's Prime Minister to express America's concerns.