Giuliani supplements his inside game with a potent media strategy. In the form of The Hill’s John Solomon, Giuliani had a columnist who apparently parroted his talking points. (Solomon even forwarded Giuliani a copy of one piece hours before its publication.) Through his appearances on Fox News, he has the opportunity to demonstrate his undying loyalty to the couch potato in the West Wing. These television hits also allow him to mold the thinking of the Republican base. He can shape a political climate so that his phone calls and meetings have the highest likelihood of success.

But what makes Giuliani such a dangerous figure is that one can never be sure who he is representing. Is he advocating on behalf of the president, or an unnamed client? This is a blurry line that he actively exploits, such as the time he solicited the business of the king of Bahrain—now a client. When he first arrived in the country, state media described him as leading a “high-level United States delegation.”…

Did he orchestrate the ousting of Yovanovitch because he believed that she was an obstacle to the investigations of Biden? Or did he orchestrate her ousting because it served the interests of clients paying him money? If this was a drug deal, as John Bolton termed the effort to pressure Ukraine for political help, was he the kingpin or the mule?