-Rudy Giuliani's defenders are claiming the FBI raids
of his home and office are part of a conspiracy by the Biden administration
to target him, even though
the investigation started during the Trump administration. For more on this,
it's time for "A Closer Look." ♪♪ I should warn you
that we are standing by for some breaking news
and we're ready, at any moment, for NBC to cut into this program
for live coverage of what could be
an earth-shattering event because, over the weekend,
a few days after the FBI raided his home and office,
Rudy Giuliani told reporters that he was about to drop
a major bombshell. -Mr. Mayor. What do you think
about's going on? -People want a statement
about this whole thing. I'll break something really big later this afternoon in Weehawken, New Jersey. [ Laughter ] -Hmm? Oh!
Oh, we're still on? I assumed NBC News had cut in
for live coverage of Rudy's announcement
from Weehawken, only to report that Rudy
was actually in Piscataway and got confused because both
Weehawken and Piscataway remind him of taking a leak. [ Laughter ]
[ As Johnny Carson ] Weehawken. [ Fresh laughter ] You know, you know, Wally,
you know how you get to Piscataway?
-No. -Go piss that-a-way. [ Laughter ] [ Regular voice ]
I'm guessing the Weehawken thing was not actually a real tease
for a press conference because Rudy was also holding
the biography of Alexander Hamilton
that inspired the hit musical and Weehawken is where the duel between Hamilton and Aaron Burr
took place. I'm guessing Rudy has
some secret information that proves Hamilton
actually won the duel. [ As Giuliani ]
And, now I'm going to turn it
over to my ballistics expert, Mike Lindell. [ As Lindell ]
We have proof that Hamilton was wearing a pillow
under his shirt and everyone knows a bullet can't go through a pillow. Well, it can't go
through a MyPillow. [ As Giuliani ]
Thanks, Mike. You can go. [ As Lindell ]
But I don't got anywhere to go. [ Laughter ]
Of course, it's also possible Rudy picked up the book thinking it was a giant stack
of $10 bills. [ As Giuliani ]
Oh, Rudy! You're gonna be rich! Driver, take me
to Tavern on the Green. Tell them to give me
my usual table, out back behind the Dumpster. One of the raccoons has
some dirt on Joe Biden. In fact, Rudy was apparently
holding the book because he's supposedly
in the process of filming some sort of documentary
special about Hamilton. -Following the FBI raid
of his home and office, Donald Trump's former attorney
is pushing back on the quick-developing story
of his potential crimes and has found the time to shoot a Hamilton documentary. -Today, we're filming
the places in New York that Alexander Hamilton really stayed, really went,
really lived. -A Hamilton documentary? Way to strike while the iron is ice cold. Of course, knowing Rudy,
there's a good chance Rudy's outside
Lin-Manuel Miranda's house with a film crew right now. [ As Giuliani ]
And this is where
Hamilton learned to rap, or, as Hamilton himself
famously put it, this is -- ♪ The room where it took place ♪ ♪ The room
where it took place ♪ [ Laughter ]
Now, let's see
if we can get inside. Mr. Hamilton! It's the FBI! We have a warrant!
This is perfectly legal. Somebody just did it to me
last week. [ Laughter ]
Rudy sounds like some Upper East Side scam artist who does walking tours
for out-of-towners, but doesn't actually know
what he's talking about. [ As Giuliani ]
Okay, today we're going
to all the places where Alexander really stayed,
really went, really lived. Over here, for example,
is a Famous Ray's Pizza, which is famous for the time
Hamilton went in and said, "You know, I don't think
I could eat a whole pizza. Would you guys
maybe sell me a slice?" And that's how, you know,
that whole industry got started. In fact, during his
little press conference about his Hamilton documentary,
Rudy claimed Hamilton would agree with him
on at least one thing. -We're going to remind
the whole world New York was the first capital of the United States. And you know what Hamilton
would agree with me on? It's the capital of the world. [ Laughter ]
[ As Giuliani ]
You can see I'm reading it. I got bookmarks. I love that, when things
get bad for Rudy, he always falls back on,
"New York City, baby!" But that ship has sailed, pal. You're never going to be
in a Yankees commercial again. They're not going to have
a smiling picture of you giving a thumbs-up at JFK. Your voice isn't going to play when people get
into New York City taxis. [ As Giuliani ]
This is former
Mayor Rudy Giuliani reminding you
to buckle up for safety. And also, that ghosts voted
in Pennsylvania, which is the only reason
Joe Biden won. [ Laughter ]
And I know New York City
discontinued celebrity messages
in cabs in 2003, but I feel like Rudy's
the kind of guy who would record them
on cassettes and then just leave them
in the backseat. Now, Rudy's been doing
a lot of friendly media, telling his side of the story,
but, on multiple occasions, including on his own podcast
and in those interviews, he's seemingly gone
out of his way to implicate his former boss,
Donald Trump. -I mean, the documents
they seized, easily, half of them involve
my representation of the president of the
United States as a lawyer. -Yeah, and he's also
under multiple criminal investigations.
I don't think that sounds as exculpatory
as you think it does. [ As Giuliani ]
I'm not corrupt.
I was just working, day and night,
for someone who was corrupt. And I know what he's saying,
which is a lot of the communications
and documents are covered by attorney-client privilege,
which I get, and that's true. But I'm not sure everything
on Rudy's devices was covered
by attorney-client privilege, since, you know, he went on TV
and read it aloud to everyone. -I never talked [ Laughing ]
to a Ukrainian official until the State Department
called me and asked me to do it. And then, I reported every
conversation back to them. It's all here, right here, the first call
from the State Department. Here's Kurt saying,
"Great. I will tell Yermak and he'll visit with you there.
Thanks." Mr. Mayor, how was your meeting
with Andriy? Do you have time for a call? Best, Kurt." They were all over me, you know, asking me to do it. I was happy to do it. -I'm no legal expert,
but I'm pretty sure attorney-client privilege
goes away when you read the documents
aloud on national television. [ As Giuliani ]
Okay, you're all my clients! It's like
the dumb-criminal version of your grandma reading you
a funny meme she came across on Facebook. [ New York accent ]
Look, Gladys sent this to me. It's a picture of a grandma
and the caption says, 'Do emails
get delivered on Sundays?' Isn't that great? That Gladys. I swear, all her bones
are funny bones. Now, in case you
don't remember -- and I really hope, for the sake
of your mental health, that you don't --
this whole thing apparently revolves
around a scheme cooked up by Rudy and his gang of weirdos to dig up dirt on the Bidens
during the election and extort Ukraine,
in order to get that dirt, which is what Trump was
impeached for the first time. Rudy tried to get
the then-ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, pushed out because he saw her
as an obstacle to his scheme, and that's what the feds
are reportedly investigating. And, by the way,
Rudy has basically already admitted to that. -I do not understand Mr. Giuliani's motives
for attacking me, nor can I offer an opinion
on whether he believed the allegations
he spread about me. Clearly, no one
at the State Department did. When I returned
to the United States, Deputy Secretary of State
Sullivan told me there had been
a concerted campaign against me. -This hit piece --
and it's a hit piece -- -Of course.
-also has you on the record, admitting that you
forced out Marie Yovanovich. -Of course I did.
-You said you needed her out of the way.
But you're a personal attorney for the president, so why do you
need her out of the way? -I didn't need her
out of the way. I forced her out
because she's corrupt. -It's nice when the confession
comes before the indictment. Usually, you have to arrest
a suspect, first, get them
in an interrogation room, and start grilling them.
Rudy just shows up, saying -- [ As Giuliani ]
You want the truth? You can't handle the truth. We do want the truth,
but, sheesh, we don't even
have our pens out. And, by the way, it's amazing
that these guys are so corrupt, they're still being investigated
for what they were accused of during Trump's
first impeachment trial, which, if I'm remembering
correctly, was approximately
eight hundred years ago. In fact, last week,
Rudy brought it up out of nowhere
when he tweeted... Sorry, wait.
So the Trump Justice Department, run by William Barr,
searched your iCloud during your impeachment
defense of Trump? So it was Trump trying
to arrest you this whole time? [ As Trump ]
You got to put him behind bars, otherwise, he's going
to keep calling me and inviting me on this Hamilton Walking Tour. He also says he has a new
Abraham Lincoln Walking Tour, but I think he just wants to go
to four different Scores, even though they closed
seven years ago. [ Laughter ] And yet, Rudy claimed,
on Fox News last week, that the raid, which, again,
is part of an investigation that started
when Trump was president, was somehow a plot orchestrated by Biden and the Democrats
to target him. -Joe Biden says he didn't know that this raid was coming. Do you take that at face value? -Maybe he doesn't remember. I'm not sure
if he can retain anything for more than about, you know,
the time it takes to read it. -Yeah, sure, dude,
Biden's the senile one, here. You're the one
butt-dialing reporters, only using the top Crest strip, and wandering around the
streets of New York, telling people you're filming
a TV special about Hamilton. Every time you do an interview, you look like
an ailing grandfather having a flashback to the war
during a family gathering. [ As Giuliani ]
I cheated on my wife. I have to tell Father Mulcahy! "M-A-S-H." [ Laughter ] I mean, what would you
consider senile, not knowing the name of the
person you're talking to? -Also, Hunter, I am a lawyer. -[ Laughing ] Oh, boy,
when Grandpa starts calling you by his dead wife's name, it's time to give him an Ambien
and put him to bed. Just make sure
to give him a bedpan, in case he has to take a...
[ As Carson ] Piscataway. [ Laughter ] Did you hear me, Wally? [ Laughter ] -Yes. [ Laughter ] -The Rudy story is,
among other things, a reminder of just how corrupt
and paranoid the Republican Party and its
right-wing apparatus still are. They see themselves
as above the law and they consider any attempt
to hold them accountable a shadowy plot
by their political opponents, even though it was
Trump's own DOJ that started the investigation
into Rudy. I don't know if the feds
will arrest Rudy or not, but, if they're looking for him, they can probably find him... -Later this afternoon in Weehawken, New Jersey. -This has been
"A Closer Look." ♪♪ God's Love We Deliver
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Remember when late night comedy was comedy or funny news that exposed the propaganda machine. Now late night isn't funny and is just DNC talking points. Don't have to retract false claims either.