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Rudy Giuliani Hires Robert Costello as Part of His New Legal Team

Costello is a longtime friend of Giuliani and was previously accused of dangling a pardon before Michael Cohen before he started cooperating.

Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's personal attorney and a central figure in the Trump-Ukraine saga, has assembled a legal team as his business dealings are reportedly under scrutiny and the impeachment inquiry into the president heats up. In a tweet Wednesday, Giuliani said he's being “represented and assisted” by Robert Costello and two other attorneys, Eric Creizman and Melissa Madrigal, in the Ukraine matter. Costello, who has reportedly been close to Giuliani for decades, is said to have previously explored the prospect of representing Michael Cohen and, according to Cohen, at one point dangled a pardon in front of him before he decided to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Costello, who at that time was reportedly in talks with Giuliani, allegedly wrote to Cohen in April 2018 that he could “sleep well tonight” because he had “friends in high places.” Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison late last year for lying to Congress, facilitating illegal hush-money payments, and other crimes.

The New York Times also reported that it took Giuliani weeks to find lawyers to represent him. Two former high-level attorneys at the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan declined to represent the former New York mayor, and two others from large law firms also turned him down. While it is perhaps unsurprising that large firms would try to avoid controversy, lawyers also avoided taking on Giuliani's case out of fear that he would “try to manage his own case,” according to the Times.

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