Republican Strategist: Giuliani's Collusion Claims Are All for Show
*By Christian Smith*
President Trump's attorney and close adviser Rudy Giuliani made the cable news rounds Monday morning, claiming that collusion is not necessarily a crime on "Fox and Friends" and CNN's "New Day."
But Giuliani's media blitz is all a show, said Republican strategist Rick Wilson, who once worked for the former New York City mayor. And maybe it's the silence that speaks more than the noise.
"The more they project about things that aren't there, the more you know that they know those things are there," Wilson explained in an interview with Cheddar Monday.
It's all part of a deliberate effort to stunt media coverage of the latest on Russia's alleged election tampering during the 2014 and 2016 cycles, Wilson added.
Giuliani's comments follow former FBI Director James Comey's assertion during a CNN town hall in [April](https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/30/politics/rudy-giuliani-collusion-crime-cnntv/index.html) that, "\[Collusion\]"is not actually a thing that exists under the federal laws of the United States."
As the trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort looms on Tuesday, Wilson says the administration is trying to stage a distraction for Trump supporters.
"What you're doing here is watching an exercise in the creation of 'the message of the week' bubble for the Trump folks," Wilson said.
But there's more ahead: Wilson expects that there will be new developments "coming down the pipe from Robert Mueller."
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/rudy-giuliani-makes-controversial-claims-in-cable-news-interviews).
Jeff Powell, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Polaris Wealth Advisory Group, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the market was looking for - and received - a little bit of relief when it came to the geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainians defied pressure from Moscow with a national show of flag-waving unity Wednesday, while the West warned that it saw no sign of a promised pullback of Russian troops.
The families of nine victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School have agreed to a $73 million settlement of a lawsuit against the maker of the rifle used to kill 20 first-graders and six educators in 2012.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says that he welcomes a security dialogue with the West as his military reported pulling back some of its troops near Ukraine.
As we celebrate Black History Month, Cheddar is highlighting prominent Black Americans who are carving their own historic paths and trailblazing in their fields. Today we feature poet and activist Amanda Gorman.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked emergency powers Monday to quell the protests by truck drivers and others who have paralyzed Ottawa and blocked border crossings in anger over the country’s COVID-19 restrictions.
The Biden administration on Friday escalated its dire warnings about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying it could take place within days, even as diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis continued.
