It seems Donald Trump and Rudolph Giuliani's relationship is on the rocks.
According to The Washington Post, the president has become upset with his longtime friend and personal attorney as he approaches the end of his presidency and faces an impeachment trial. White House insiders claim Trump has told aides not to pay Giuliani's legal fees and wants to "personally approve any reimbursements for the expenses Giuliani incurred" during his failed attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election on POTUS' behalf.
The New York Times also spoke to an official who confirmed that Trump was offended by Giuliani reportedly seeking $20,000 a day for his work in overturning the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election. Another adviser claimed White House officials have started to block calls from Giuliani to Trump.
The reports came just hours after the House voted to impeach the outgoing president for "inciting" the deadly riot at the United States Capitol last week. The vote marked the first time an American president had been impeached twice. If Trump is convicted in the impeach trial, which is expected to take place after Joe Biden's inauguration, he will likely be barred from holding political office in the future.
Giuliani is also facing repercussions for his alleged involvement in the insurrection on the Capitol. Shortly before the pro-Trump mob stormed the building, Giuliani spoke at a "Save America" rally where he reiterated baseless claims about election fraud: "If we are wrong, we will be made fools of, but if we're right, a lot of them will go to jail," he told the crowd. "So let's have trial by combat."
Though Giuliani claimed the "trial by combat" comment was simply a Game of Thrones reference, a number of his former colleagues have publicly denounced his statement.
"We unequivocally repudiate and denounce what you said: It is utterly destructive of all that we value," a group of former U.S. assistant attorneys wrote in a letter addressed to Giuliani.
Those who signed the letter include Kenneth Feinberg, Ira Lee Sorkin, Elliot Sagor, and Richard Ben-Veniste, all of whom urged Giuliani to tell Trump supporters to "stand down."
"It is important that you do so at this very moment," the letter read, "not only because it would be the right thing to do. but also to mitigate the risk of greater violence and minimize further damage to our democratic institutions and our democracy."
