President Trump sticking by Giuliani in latest 'witch hunt'

Two Florida businessmen with ties to Rudy Giuliani were charged on Friday with federal campaign finance violations. Photo / AP

US President Donald Trump was yesterday standing behind personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, one of his highest-profile and most vocal defenders, amid reports federal prosecutors in the city Giuliani led as mayor are eyeing him for possible lobbying violations.

Behind the scenes, however, many of Trump's closest aides and advisers wish the president would cut ties with Giuliani, whose leadership of New York after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks earned him worldwide admiration and the moniker of "America's mayor".

Giuliani was a force in Trump's defence during the lengthy Russia investigation by the special counsel. Yet the effort to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller led Giuliani to Ukraine, which now entangles the former federal prosecutor and mayor in legal jeopardy and is central to the danger threatening the presidency he laboured to protect.

The New York Times reported on Saturday the investigation is linked to Giuliani's efforts to undermine Marie Yovanovitch, formerly the US ambassador to Ukraine.

Two Florida businessmen with ties to Giuliani were charged on Friday with federal campaign finance violations.

Two Florida businessmen with ties to Rudy Giuliani were charged on Friday with federal campaign finance violations. Photo / AP

Both played key roles in Giuliani's efforts to get Ukraine to launch a corruption investigation into Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who sat on the board of a gas company there.

Yesterday, Trump deployed in Giuliani's defence the same two-word phrase — "Witch Hunt!" — he repeatedly used to attack the legitimacy of the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and now the House impeachment inquiry against him.

"So now they are after the legendary 'crime buster' and greatest Mayor in the history of NYC, Rudy Giuliani," Trump tweeted on the way to his northern Virginia golf club.

Later, he told Fox News' Jeannine Pirro that Giuliani continues as his lawyer.

- AP