Rudolph W. Giuliani is disputing a claim from a former White House aide that he sought out a pardon from then-President Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
“No, I NEVER asked for a pardon nor thought of one. I NEVER lied nor did anything wrong. Friends were suggesting Trump do a pardon for everyone around him because the corrupt Democrats try to frame people,” Mr. Giuliani, a longtime ally and former counsel to Mr. Trump told The Washington Times on Thursday. “Case in fact, Russian hoax and Quid pro quo.”
During testimony before the House select committee on the Jan. 6 riots, Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified that her boss and Mr. Giuliani had inquired about pardons for themselves.
The pardon requests, she said to the committee, were related to the riots that happened on Jan. 6, when pro-Trump protesters breached the U.S. Capitol to protest lawmakers certifying the presidential election.
Trump lawyer, John Eastman, who asserted the Fifth Amendment rights when he testified before the committee two weeks ago, told Mr. Giuliani in an email after Jan. 6, “I’ve decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works.”
Robert Costello, Mr. Giuliani’s lawyer, previously shared a denial to media outlets from Mr. Giuliani.
“Not only didn’t I ever request a pardon. I told my client, President Trump, that if I was offered a pardon, I would turn it down. Since I had done nothing wrong, there was no need for a pardon,” the former New York mayor said then.
Mr. Meadows has also denied he requested a pardon from the president, saying through a spokesman that “he never sought a pardon and never planned to.”
Mr. Giuliani appeared before the committee for nine hours in May, but it is unknown whether he answered questions about presidential pardon requests.
Mr. Meadows, however, declined to testify before the committee.
Ms. Hutchinson, 26, previously testified in a taped deposition that GOP House lawmakers, including Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Andy Biggs of Arizona requested presidential pardons after the Jan. 6 riots.
Those lawmakers also have disputed these claims by Ms. Hutchinson.
