Rudy Giuliani, the pugnacious former mayor of New York, has joined Donald Trump’s legal team with a specific task of dealing with the special investigation into Russian election interference that is swirling around the president’s head.

Giuliani’s appointment, announced in an interview with the Washington Post, comes at the end of an awkward period for Trump in which he struggled to find legal firepower to help him face the billowing Russian investigation. His lead lawyer handling the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller, John Dowd, resigned last month.

The appointment also brings to an end a fallow period for Giuliani, who has for many years been close to Trump and who pitched openly for a position in the administration. He was hailed as “America’s mayor” after 9/11 but he has a contentious track record, particularly in his stance towards minorities. Giuliani told the Post he saw his new job as lead attorney on the Russia affair as bringing Mueller’s investigation to a swift end.

“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,” he said. He added that he would be working alongside the two existing senior lawyers working for Trump, Jay Sekulow and Ty Cobb. In a statement, Sekulow said: “Rudy is great. He has been my friend for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country.”(theguardian)…[+]