Rudy Giuliani Upped Trips to Russia and Former Soviet States After Trump’s Election: ProPublica

Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, appears to have stepped up his appearances in Russia and former Soviet states since Trump was elected. ProPublica reports that last week, Giuliani reportedly was invited to Armenia by Ara Abramyan, an Armenian businessman who lives in Russia. Giuliani said he was in Armenia as a private citizen, but on a local TV news show, Abramyan implied that he expected Giuliani to carry a message for him to Trump, according to ProPublica. Giuliani also attended a cybersecurity conference while in Armenia, where he spoke on a panel with a Russian currently on the U.S. sanctions list imposed after Russia’s invasion of Crimea. ProPublica noted that Giuliani’s work abroad doesn’t appear to break any laws or rules, but that it seems unprecedented. Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney and a law professor at the University of Michigan (and a regular Daily Beast contributor) told ProPublica, “I don’t recall seeing anything like this before.”