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Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump in November 2016.
- Rudy Giuliani said in an interview that Trump could shoot former FBI Director James Comey without getting indicted for it.
- He was making a point about legal process, claiming that it is impossible to start normal criminal proceedings against a sitting president.
- Instead, Giuliani said Trump would have to be impeached before action could be taken.
- The intervention amid larger questions about what Trump's liability could be in the Russia investigation led by Robert Mueller.
- Trump's legal team recently floated the possibility that Trump could cancel the Russian probe, or simply pardon himself.
Rudy Giuliani has said that Donald Trump's presidential powers are so great that he couldn't be indicted even if he shot former FBI Director James Comey.
Giuliani used the vivid example to illustrate his claim that there is no way to start criminal proceedings against a sitting president, regardless of what they do, without impeaching them first.
Giuliani, who is leading Trump's defense team, told HuffPost on Sunday:
"In no case can he be subpoenaed or indicted. I don't know how you can indict while he's in office. No matter what it is.
"If he shot James Comey, he'd be impeached the next day. Impeach him, and then you can do whatever you want to do to him."
Giuliani's comments came after The New York Times published a letter from Trump's legal team to Special Counsel Robert Mueller saying that the president "could, if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon if he so desired."
Also on Sunday, Giuliani told ABC's "This Week" that Trump "probably has the power to pardon himself, even though "he has no intention" of doing so.
He added that Trump shouldn't have to be interviewed by Mueller because "our recollection keeps changing."
Legal experts are warning against Trump's self-pardoning, since even though he may technically be able to do it, in a practical sense it could swiftly lead to his being forced from office.
Giuliani and his team have been publicly attacking on Mueller and the Russia investigation in the apparent absence of a coherent legal strategy.
Giuliani told Business Insider's Sonam Sheth earlier this month: "Our jury is the American people. If they decide that the president is being badly treated, there's no way any Congress will impeach him."
Asked about shifting explanations for statement on Trump Tower meeting, Rudy Giuliani tells @GStephanopoulos:
"This is the reason you don't let the president testify. Our recollection keeps changing, or we're not even asked a question and somebody makes an assumption." pic.twitter.com/Ya0dK1KenB
- ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 3, 2018