Twitter Users Needle Rudy Giuliani For Citing Wikipedia As Proof Of No Collusion
Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani was mocked mercilessly Friday on Twitter after he attempted to shoot down those pesky Russia collusion theories that keep getting bandied about.
Problem was, he used Wikipedia as proof ― and the site’s entries are far from irrefutable.
Giuliani’s first tweet attacked the credibility of Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer who compiled the infamous dossier about Donald Trump and Russia.
Since 2009 Steele has not been to Russia, or visited any former Soviet states and in 2012, an Orbis informant quoted an FSB-agent describing him as an "enemy of Mother Russia".[1]
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) March 22, 2019
Notice the telltale Wikipedia footnote?
Giuliani followed up a few minutes later citing the website as a source.
The below excerpt from Wikipedia, if true, is another indication that the Steele Dossier about Russia is a phony work of political opposition research. Comey never bothered to check when Steele was last in Russia. So where was it written and who wrote it? We demand answers!
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) March 22, 2019
RawStory noted the problem with this:
Wikipedia entries are not considered reliable pieces of evidence, given that anyone has the power to edit Wikipedia entries at any time.
Added to this, Giuliani himself admitted that he didn’t know whether this already flimsy evidence was actually true, even though he claimed it would completely destroy Steele’s credibility.
Twitter users were quick to pounce on Giuliani, and things got hilarious.
"Your honor, I'd like to submit the following into evidence: this excerpt from Wikipedia, if true"
Grade A lawyering, Rudolph.— Billy Dee (@RealSillyOwl) March 22, 2019
BREAKING NEWS: Legal writing professors across the country frantically e-mail students to remind them of the obvious that they should not do things like this.
— lawprofblawg (@lawprofblawg) March 22, 2019
Very cool report! What grade are you in
— Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) March 22, 2019
Grandpa Munster uses the internets.
— Tim (@tim_username) March 22, 2019
One person stated the obvious:
Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.
We're so lucky to have you as Trump's lawyer.
— Edward DeRuiter (@edwardderuiter) March 22, 2019
Another had a question for the former mayor of New York City.
You do know everyone has access to update Wikipedia, dumbass.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) March 22, 2019
One person thought the best way for Giuliani to learn how Wikipedia really works was to demonstrate it in real time.
It would be a shame if people started going on Rudy's wikipedia page and updating hilarious information....
— Ted James (@Teddy__Jay) March 22, 2019
The Wikipedia entry on Steele that Giuliani quoted cites a New Yorker story that has not been disproved. But whether Steele had been to Russia recently may not even be relevant, since he could have compiled the dossier through Orbis Business Intelligence, the investigative-research firm that he co-founded in 2009.
Also on HuffPost
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
