Giuliani promotes Soros conspiracy theories in bizarre New York Magazine interview

Rudy Giuliani appeared to hold nothing back in a wide-ranging interview with New York Magazine's Olivia Nuzzi, in which he promoted unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about George Soros and discussed the reported federal investigation into his finances.

The big picture: Giuliani defended his work digging up dirt on Trump's political rivals in Ukraine, which he recently claimed the president continues to support. The former mayor of New York also stressed that he's not worried about his legacy and that he has been besmirched as part of a conspiracy by Democrats, the media and the "deep state" to remove Trump from office.

Giuliani told Nuzzi that Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine who he helped oust in order to clear the way for politically beneficial investigations, is "controlled" by George Soros.

“Don’t tell me I’m anti-Semitic if I oppose him. Soros is hardly a Jew. I’m more of a Jew than Soros is. I probably know more about — he doesn’t go to church, he doesn’t go to religion — synagogue. He doesn’t belong to a synagogue, he doesn’t support Israel, he’s an enemy of Israel. He’s elected eight anarchist DA’s in the United States. He’s a horrible human being.”

Giuliani is reportedly being investigated by the same U.S. Attorney's office he once led in the Southern District of New York. He suggested that the office is investigating him because they're “a Trump-deranged bunch of silly New York liberals” who are jealous of his success prosecuting mobsters in the 1980s.

“If they’re investigating me, they’re assholes. They’re absolutely assholes if they’re investigating me.”

Giuliani has denied that he has any business interests in Ukraine, but inexplicably told Nuzzi he has "done two business deals" in the former Soviet republic and has "sought four or five others." One of those is a lawsuit on behalf of Ukraine against a company Giuliani claims laundered $7 billion for former Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovych.

• “It would’ve had nothing to do with Trump, nothing to do with Burisma, nothing to do with Biden," Guiliani said, before explaining he wanted to take the job so he could "figure out they utilize the same money-laundering system for Hunter Biden.”
• Guiliani says he ultimately didn't take the work, but that he did "take advantage of learning a little about the money-laundering system first.”

Go deeper:

• Read the full New York Magazine interview
• Giuliani says he "needed Yovanovitch out of the way"
• Prosecutors say Giuliani associate Lev Parnas hid $1 million payment from Russia