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On Fox, Giuliani lashes out at critics, defends his Ukraine involvement

Rudolph W. Giuliani's fellow Fox News panelist was talking over him again on Tuesday night, ignoring host Laura Ingraham's attempts to intervene. Giuliani wasn't having it anymore.

"Shut up, moron," Giuliani shouted on "The Ingraham Angle," directing the command at liberal radio host Christopher Hahn. "Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about."

Giuliani's outburst and the ensuing battle of words between the two men capped the end of a contentious day for President Donald Trump's personal attorney. Hours before he appeared on Fox News, The Washington Post reported that Giuliani was a key player in the escalating political conflict over Trump's dealings with Ukraine - a scandal that has rocked the White House and prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president.

On Fox News, Giuliani vigorously defended himself and Trump. He argued that he contacted Ukrainian officials only at the State Department's request, called for investigations of "corrupt" Democrats, and repeatedly alleged that former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter had done wrong in Ukraine. The allegation about the Bidens, which Trump has also voiced, has not been backed up by any official evidence thus far, The Post's Fact Checker reported.

Afterward, Giuliani took to Twitter early Wednesday morning to double down on his earlier claims.

"Democrat party is covering up a pattern of corruption involving high level members of the Obama cabinet," Giuliani tweeted around 1 a.m. "The multimillion and billion dollar pay-for-play is mind boggling."

The former New York mayor first appeared on Fox News Tuesday for a one-on-one interview with Ingraham to address The Post's report about his involvement in Ukraine and the impeachment inquiry. The saga began unfolding last week when The Post reported that a whistle-blower complaint alleged that Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into Biden. Tuesday's report revealed that Giuliani was heavily entangled in Trump's Ukraine dealings, which also involved the president reportedly withholding almost $400 million in military aid for the country, while national security officials were sidelined.

When Ingraham asked whether he inserted himself into Ukrainian discussions, Giuliani confirmed that he did. Then, he repeated a past assertion that the State Department had enlisted his help.

"I never talked to a Ukrainian official until the State Department called me and asked me to do it and then I reported every conversation back to them. I'm a pretty good lawyer, just a country lawyer, but it's all here, right here," he said, holding up his cellphone to suggest that call records would provide confirmation.

For most of the roughly 13-minute interview, Giuliani sought to shift the focus from himself back to Democrats and Biden. At one point, he even suggested that Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who went to Ukraine this month, should be impeached instead of Trump.

Giuliani argued that Democrats have been "covering up for what will turn out to be massive corruption in the Obama administration," highlighting allegations that Biden, then vice president, had pressed the Ukrainian government to fire a prosecutor who had been investigating a natural gas firm that employed Hunter Biden. According to The Post's Fact Checker, that investigation was shelved before Biden's attempts to oust the prosecutor. Additionally, Hunter Biden, who sat on the company's board for five years, was never accused of wrongdoing during the investigation.

Giuliani later added that he had gotten involved rather than leaving the investigation to officials with the Justice Department or the FBI because of his role as Trump's lawyer.

"I'm defending him," Giuliani said. "He's my client. I don't know, only Donald Trump is not entitled to a defense in America."

As he pointed fingers at Democrats and a "crooked press corps," Giuliani also spouted claims, without evidence, that the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and an FBI agent assigned to investigate the Hunter Biden corruption allegations were both part of a conspiracy organized by liberal billionaire George Soros - talking so much that his voice became hoarse.

"Sorry to cut you off," Ingraham said following several attempts to let Giuliani know that he was out of time. "You gotta get your voice back."

After a few minutes of rest, Ingraham brought Giuliani back on the show to join a panel made up of Hahn, the liberal radio host, and former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy. Hahn had just accused Giuliani of "making things up" about the Bidens, and the lawyer was raring to go.

"I should sue you for libel," Giuliani told Hahn. "You actually usually say incredibly stupid things."

From there, the segment turned into a screaming match. Giuliani called Hahn an "idiot," demanding that Ingraham tell the radio host "to keep his mouth shut."

It's unclear whether Trump watched Giuliani's interview or the heated exchange, but it appeared he was glued to Fox News on Tuesday night. The president tweeted six videos of Fox segments, thanking hosts and guests who suggested he was free of wrongdoing in the Ukraine affair.

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