Trevor Potter and Delaney Marsco: “Rudolph W. Giuliani is not the secretary of state. In fact, he has no official position in President Trump’s Cabinet or administration. Yet he is traveling the world holding himself out as a U.S. government operative, engaging in some unknown amount of ‘unofficial’ diplomacy and insisting his work is not only officially sanctioned by the president but also assisted by the State Department. The president’s ‘private lawyer’ is not charging Trump for his services, but he and his law firm are known to have dozens of clients — including foreign entities — who are paying for whatever services they think Giuliani can provide for them.”
“That is a very convenient setup for Giuliani — but it leaves the public in the dark about the wealthy special interests who might be subsidizing his gratis work for Trump — or for whom he might actually be working while invoking Trump’s name and that of the State Department. Because Giuliani is not officially a federal employee, he can sidestep ethics obligations that would require transparency behind the foreign or domestic interests who are paying him.”
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