Giuliani appears to admit asking Trump for pardon before claiming he never did – then deletes tweet altogether

Mr Giuliani says January 6 committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson ‘was never present’ when he ‘asked for a pardon’ from Donald Trump

Former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s attempt at joining his Trumpworld compatriots in attacking House January 6 select committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson on Tuesday went awry. He posted a tweet denying allegations that he’d asked for a presidential pardon, which was worded in a way that seemed to confirm the claim.

"The January 6 Witch Hunt Cabal has now exceeded even its prior fraudulent," he said. "The last witness was a reckless liar. Contrary to her false testimony she was never present when I asked for a pardon,” he wrote.

Mr Giuliani, who is currently under federal investigation for work he did on Mr Trump’s behalf in Ukraine, later added that he told former president Donald Trump that he “did not want or need” a presidential pardon.

And confusing things even further, he then deleted the tweet.

The January 6 committee has already revealed evidence showing the disgraced former prosecutor, who had his law license suspended last year and is currently facing disbarment in Washington DC, pushed for a pardon after the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol.

An email published by the panel sent from Mr Giuliani to another Trump attorney, John Eastman, shows the former mayor was involved in assembling a list of pardons to be granted in the final days before Mr Trump’s term as president was set to end.

Mr Eastman, whose mobile phone was seized by FBI agents this week as part of the Justice Department’s probe into Mr Trump’s push to overturn the election, told Mr Giuliani he had “decided that [he] should be on the pardon list” if that list was “still in the works”.