Giuliani in the Rose Garden on July 29 in Washington, DC. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's personal lawyer, is continuing to encourage Ukraine's government to investigate the son of Joe Biden, Trump's current top-polling 2020 rival, the New York Times reports.
The impact: U.S. government officials who handle foreign policy related to Ukraine blame Giuliani for complicating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's diplomatic visit to the White House, per the NYT. Trump and Zelensky have not yet met in person.
What's new: "Giuliani has spoken on the phone and held an in-person meeting, in Madrid, with a top representative" of Zelensky's to encourage Ukraine to investigate potential conflicts of interest involving the Biden family and whether the country "took steps during the 2016 election to damage" the Trump campaign, the NYT reports.
Flashback: The NYT previously reported that Giuliani also wanted to visit Ukraine to encourage Zelensky to investigate the origin of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Giuliani canceled that trip in May, then met with a former Ukrainian diplomat in New York.
The other side: Ukraine's prosecutor general said in May that he has no evidence of wrongdoing by former Vice President Joe Biden or his son Hunter, regarding potential conflicts of interest involving the family's work with a Ukrainian company.
Go deeper: Giuliani cancels trip to Ukraine as Trump suggests investigating Biden