Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani confirmed on Sunday that the president and his allies’ attempts to discredit the Mueller investigation — including the most recent so-called Spygate controversy — are part of a public relations campaign aimed at staving off impeachment. “It is for public opinion,” the former New York mayor admitted during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. And while trying to shape public opinion is the rarely acknowledged goal of any p**********l administration, what Giuliani said next was unique to Trump’s: “Because eventually the decision here is going to be impeach or not impeach.”

Giuliani’s comment came amid pressure from host Dana Bash to acknowledge that he and Trump were using a “very specific, very political strategy to undermine [the Mueller] investigation,” highlighting how a recent poll revealed a 15 percent drop in the number of Republicans who wanted Trump to testify in the probe. Bash and Giuliani had already talked about the unfounded Spygate allegation by Trump and his allies that the FBI had installed a spy in the Trump campaign to set up for collusion charges. (The FBI had actually warned Trump that Russia was trying to infiltrate his campaign.)

Asked to confirm that these efforts to discredit the Mueller probe were just a political tactic, Giuliani first demurred, insisting that he and Trump have just been calling attention to the suspicions, not creating them. Then Bash specifically cited the Spygate claims and how no evidence had been offered to support them, and noted to Giuliani that he was both an experienced politician and a lawyer who clearly understood that the Trump team could feel free to attack the Russia investigation, since Mueller and his team would not be able to publicly defend themselves.

Appearing somewhat flummoxed, Giuliani tried to explain that he was only able to go on the attack because “they’re giving us the material,” meaning the missteps or alleged misconduct of federal law enforcement officials — though actually referring to Trump’s allies in Congress and in the conservative media. Then, surprisingly, he veered toward t***sparency:

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani confirmed on Sunday that the president and his allies’ attempts to discredit the Mueller investigation — including the most recent so-called Spygate controversy — are part of a public relations campaign aimed at staving off impeachment. “It is for public opinion,” the former New York mayor admitted during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. And while trying to shape public opinion is the rarely acknowledged goal of any p**********l administration, what Giuliani said next was unique to Trump’s: “Because eventually the decision here is going to be impeach or not impeach.”

Giuliani’s comment came amid pressure from host Dana Bash to acknowledge that he and Trump were using a “very specific, very political strategy to undermine [the Mueller] investigation,” highlighting how a recent poll revealed a 15 percent drop in the number of Republicans who wanted Trump to testify in the probe. Bash and Giuliani had already talked about the unfounded Spygate allegation by Trump and his allies that the FBI had installed a spy in the Trump campaign to set up for collusion charges. (The FBI had actually warned Trump that Russia was trying to infiltrate his campaign.)

Asked to confirm that these efforts to discredit the Mueller probe were just a political tactic, Giuliani first demurred, insisting that he and Trump have just been calling attention to the suspicions, not creating them. Then Bash specifically cited the Spygate claims and how no evidence had been offered to support them, and noted to Giuliani that he was both an experienced politician and a lawyer who clearly understood that the Trump team could feel free to attack the Russia investigation, since Mueller and his team would not be able to publicly defend themselves.

Appearing somewhat flummoxed, Giuliani tried to explain that he was only able to go on the attack because “they’re giving us the material,” meaning the missteps or alleged misconduct of federal law enforcement officials — though actually referring to Trump’s allies in Congress and in the conservative media. Then, surprisingly, he veered toward t***sparency:

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani confirmed on Sunday that the president and his allies’ attempts to discredit the Mueller investigation — including the most recent so-called Spygate controversy — are part of a public relations campaign aimed at staving off impeachment. “It is for public opinion,” the former New York mayor admitted during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. And while trying to shape public opinion is the rarely acknowledged goal of any p**********l administration, what Giuliani said next was unique to Trump’s: “Because eventually the decision here is going to be impeach or not impeach.”

Giuliani’s comment came amid pressure from host Dana Bash to acknowledge that he and Trump were using a “very specific, very political strategy to undermine [the Mueller] investigation,” highlighting how a recent poll revealed a 15 percent drop in the number of Republicans who wanted Trump to testify in the probe. Bash and Giuliani had already talked about the unfounded Spygate allegation by Trump and his allies that the FBI had installed a spy in the Trump campaign to set up for collusion charges. (The FBI had actually warned Trump that Russia was trying to infiltrate his campaign.)

Asked to confirm that these efforts to discredit the Mueller probe were just a political tactic, Giuliani first demurred, insisting that he and Trump have just been calling attention to the suspicions, not creating them. Then Bash specifically cited the Spygate claims and how no evidence had been offered to support them, and noted to Giuliani that he was both an experienced politician and a lawyer who clearly understood that the Trump team could feel free to attack the Russia investigation, since Mueller and his team would not be able to publicly defend themselves.

Appearing somewhat flummoxed, Giuliani tried to explain that he was only able to go on the attack because “they’re giving us the material,” meaning the missteps or alleged misconduct of federal law enforcement officials — though actually referring to Trump’s allies in Congress and in the conservative media. Then, surprisingly, he veered toward t***sparency: