9:37 p.m. ET, December 5, 2019
Pelosi slams Giuliani over claims that Ukraine meddled the 2016 election
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took aim at President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani tonight in Washington, D.C., criticizing his insistence that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election.
"I don't have time to keep track of Rudy Giuliani, I just don't. But I do think it is further indication of the arrogance of it all, that every authority has said there is no truth to the rumor that the Ukrainians were instrumental in interfering in our election," Pelosi said tonight.
Pelosi went on to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin: "Putin makes a joke of it. He says, 'Oh, they're blaming it on Ukraine, they took it off of me.' But all roads lead to Putin. This is about Putin, right from Putin, in Russia, in Moscow, Putin's desk, the disruption of our elections but not only ours. They want to undermine democracy all around the world. In Africa, in Europe, in the United States, to undermine democracy."
Some more context on Giuliani and Ukraine: Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, testified that Giuliani was
essentially running point for Trump on Ukraine matters.
Giuliani was trying to arrange a quid pro quo of a White House meeting for Ukraine's new president in exchange for his help investigating interference in the 2016 elections, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter Biden, who served on the board of a Ukrainian energy company known as Burisma. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden.