Siavosh Hosseini/NurPhoto via ZUMA

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Donald Trump has had trouble finding any decent lawyers who are willing to work with him on the Russia probe, so he’s finally decided to let his pal Rudy Giuliani come on board. But what exactly is Giuliani’s role going to be? Here are three takes:

New York Times: Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and longtime friend of President Trump, will join the president’s legal team in an effort to “quickly” resolve the special counsel investigation into Russian election interference and possible ties to Trump associates.

Wall Street Journal: In an interview, Mr. Giuliani, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said his first task after joining the team will be to “find out what Bob Mueller needs” to complete the investigation. “I’m pretty sure we can comply with it,” he said. Mr. Trump’s legal team has “worked so hard to get this done. Hopefully we can speed it up,” Mr. Giuliani said.

Washington Post: “I’m doing it because I hope we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country and because I have high regard for the president and for Bob Mueller,” Giuliani said in an interview.

Giuliani wants to “quickly” resolve the investigation. He wants to “speed it up.” And he wants to “negotiate an end” to it. In other words, he’s less a lawyer than he is an ambassador to Robert Mueller. And apparently he thinks he can wrap things up in just a few weeks.

Okey doke.

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Russian bots are impersonating us. Trump and his allies want to silence us. AI wants to (and does!) steal our content. The list goes on. But with 50 years of experience, we know we were built for this moment: We’re ready to keep diving deep and uncovering the truth, then getting that to you right here, completely accessible and never behind a paywall.

While our work is free to read, watch, and listen to online, it’s incredibly costly to make. Court documents, travel, research: It all adds up. Because we’re a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on reader support to fund our investigations. Will you stand with us in these extraordinary times, as headlines clamour for our attention and disinformation is rampant? We can’t get the truth out without you.

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