Giuliani request for pardon intercepted before reaching Trump, book says

Unclear if former New York mayor was involved in request in letter sent by associate that also asked for payment and presidential honour

A new book claims that an associate of Rudy Giuliani tried to pass a message to Donald Trump shortly after the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot asking if he could grant Mr Giuliani a general pardon and award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Maggie Haberman reports in The New York Times that the associate, Maria Ryan, also pleaded for Mr Giuliani that he be paid for his services to the president and sent a separate note allegedly seeking tens of thousands of dollars for herself.

Mr Trump never saw the request because Bernard Kerik, Mr Giuliani’s close adviser and the New York City police commissioner for part of his time as mayor, stopped the letter from getting to the president.

It is not clear whether Mr Giuliani, who helped lead attempts to overturn the 2020 election, was involved in the request. He has repeatedly insisted he did not seek a pardon shielding him from potential charges.

The revelations come from journalist Andrew Kirtzman’s book, Giuliani: The Rise and Tragic Fall of America’s Mayor.

Mr Giuliani is at the centre of a myriad of legal issues because of his efforts to keep Mr Trump in the Oval Office after his defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

According to the book, Ms Ryan wrote: “Dear Mr President, I tried to call you yesterday to talk about business. The honourable Rudy Giuliani has worked 24/7 on the voter fraud issues. He has led a team of lawyers, data analysts and investigators.”

“He needs to be paid for his services,” she continued, adding that she had given an invoice to Mark Meadows, then White House chief of staff, via Katherine Friess, a lawyer working with Mr Kerik.

“As you know, he lost his job and income and more defending you during the Russia hoax investigation and then the impeachment pro bono.”

The book states that Mr Giuliani’s invoice was for $2.5m and Ms Ryan’s was for $45,000 for her own services, “working in the campaign pursuing truth and justice for the president”.

Bringing up the possibility of a Presidential Medal of Freedom, she wrote: “Mr Giuliani rarely asks for anything for himself. He is praying you present him with this on Friday, January 15 or Monday the 19.”

Following that, she moved on to the topic of the “general pardon”.

The letter was delivered to Ms Friess, Mr Kirtzman says in the book. Mr Kerik, reportedly appalled by the requests, then intercepted it.

Two months ago in June, Mr Giuliani issued a statement denying that he had ever sought a pardon.

“I told my client, President Trump, that if I was offered a pardon, I would turn it down,” Mr Giuliani said. “Since I had done nothing wrong, there was no need for a pardon.”