The Justice Department on Sunday offered an unusual statement that essentially distances the attorney general’s office from Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, The New York Times reports. Peter Carr, a DOJ spokesman, said Brian Benczkowski, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and other officials, would not have met with Giuliani had they known his associates—Ukrainian businessmen Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman—were under investigation by officials in New York. “When Mr. Benczkowski and fraud section lawyers met with Mr. Giuliani, they were not aware of any investigation of Mr. Giuliani’s associates in the Southern District of New York and would not have met with him had they known,” Carr said. The statement appears to be a signal from the DOJ that they will no longer cooperate with Giuliani, and undercuts the narrative that the former mayor of New York is influential in Washington.