Rudy Giuliani won't rule out Trump pleading the Fifth in Russia inquiry

Jessica Estepa | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Giuliani: Trump doesn’t have to comply with a Mueller subpoena President Donald Trump’s new attorney Rudy Giuliani said he can’t rule out the possibility of Trump not complying with a Mueller subpoena. While at the same time suggested Michael Cohen could have paid other women on behalf of Trump. Veuer's Maria Mercedes Galuppo has more.

Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani wouldn't rule out the possibility that the president could take the Fifth if he testified in the Russia investigation.

"How could I ever be confident of that?" Giuliani said Sunday on ABC's This Week.

The former New York City mayor said there was a 50% chance that Trump could be subpoenaed by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Giuliani said that didn't mean Trump would have to sit down with Mueller and his team. "We don't have to," he said. "We can assert the same privileges that other presidents have."

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Giuliani pointed to Bill Clinton, who was served a subpoena by independent counsel Kenneth Starr. It was withdrawn when Clinton agreed to testify voluntarily before a grand jury.

ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked Giuliani whether Trump would be willing to testify.

Giuliani replied that he would prefer a Q&A, in which the president wouldn't be under oath and Trump's team would receive the questions in advance.

Giuliani discussed the drama stemming from a $130,000 payment that adult-film star Stormy Daniels said she received to stay quiet about an affair with Trump. Giuliani said he didn't think of the money, paid to Daniels by Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, as a "real payment."

"It's a nuisance payment," he said. "People don't go away for $130,000 as a meritorious claim."

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Since becoming a part of Trump's legal team, Giuliani has stirred controversy with his comments about Cohen and Daniels. Giuliani said Trump repaid Cohen. Trump explained that the money wasn't related to his presidential campaign and said Giuliani would "get his facts straight."

Sunday, Giuliani said he didn't know why the president denied knowledge of the payments to Daniels. "I don't know when the president learned about it," he said. "He could have learned about it after or not connected the whole thing at that time. The reality is those are not the facts that worry me as a lawyer."

Giuliani said he had "no knowledge" of whether Cohen made other payments to women on Trump's behalf. "But I would think if it was necessary, yes," he said. "He made payments for the president, or he's conducted business for the president."

Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, called Giuliani's interview an "absolute unmitigated disaster."

"It's a train wreck," he said. "I can't believe that actually just happened. ... He now expects the American people to believe that he doesn't really know the facts."

Avenatti said Giuliani essentially described Trump as having an "extramarital affair slush fund" administered by Cohen. He argued that the payment to Daniels was related to the presidential campaign.

"There’s no question this had everything to do with the campaign. You could look at the timing associated with the payment," he said.

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