If this was a joke, it was told several times. I’m referring, of course, to Rudy Giuliani’s comment to reporters about having “an insurance policy” in case Donald Trump throws him under the bus. But it’s now being reported that Rudy picked up the phone this week to call his boss and reassure him that he was only kidding. Wouldn’t you love to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation? (Reuters)

President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, called the president this week to reassure him that he had been joking when he told media outlets he had “insurance” if Trump turned on him in the Ukraine scandal, Giuliani’s lawyer said on Wednesday.

The attorney, Robert Costello, said Giuliani “at my insistence” had called Trump “within the last day” to emphasize that he had not been serious when he said he had an “insurance policy, if thrown under the bus.”

“He shouldn’t joke, he is not a funny guy. I told him, ‘Ten thousand comedians are out of work, and you make a joke. It doesn’t work that way,’” Costello told Reuters.Giuliani has already said that he was being sarcastic when he made the comments.

Just for the record, I’ll remind everyone that Allahpundit called this the same day the original story first broke, saying “no, Rudy didn’t say he has ‘insurance’ if Trump throws him under the bus.” Or more specifically, he did say it, but it had to be a joke.

Besides, if Rudy really wanted to cash in his insurance policy, he already had the chance. That’s because Trump did sort of throw him under the bus when he said that he didn’t direct any of Giuliani’s activities in Ukraine. The likelihood of that being true is pretty much zero, but that claim appears to be the President’s “insurance” policy in case this impeachment effort actually starts gaining traction.

How does that work? Get Rudy to say that he cooked up whatever is being alleged in the Ukraine deal and then give him a blanket pardon before anyone shows up with handcuffs. Or at least that’s one theory.

Getting back to the substance of the original question, does anyone believe that Giuliani doesn’t have information he could hold over Trump’s head? He’s his lawyer. People’s lawyers always know things that are protected under attorney-client privilege that they might not wish to go public. (Unless you happen to have lived the life of a saint, but I somehow don’t see that applying here.)

The President has had a couple of lawyers turn on him already, but somehow I can’t imagine things ending that way with Giuliani. Even when news of the “insurance policy” crack was going around, his only comment to reporters was to say, “Rudy is a great guy.” Giuliani is a loyalist and Trump values loyalty. I seriously doubt he’ll let Rudy’s ship sink without making sure he’s got a life preserver.