- Rudy Giuliani said President Donald Trump may have been made aware of allegations of abuse against disgraced New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman years ago because of the case Schneiderman was pursuing against Trump University.
- Giuliani, Trump's lawyer, said he did not personally know whether Trump had been made aware of the allegations.
- Four women accused Schneiderman of sexual misconduct earlier this week, leading to his resignation from office.
- ALSO: Giuliani said he wouldn't debate Michael Avenatti because the Stormy Daniels lawyer is "pimping for money."
President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, told Business Insider on Friday that the president may have been told about allegations of sexual misconduct against disgraced former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman because of the case Schneiderman was pursuing against Trump's now-defunct education venture, Trump University.
Earlier Friday, attorney Peter Gleason claimed in a court filing that Trump and his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen were made aware of such allegations from two women in 2013.
In a letter to US District Court Judge Kimba Wood — the judge presiding over the criminal investigation into Cohen — Gleason requested a protective order on any records seized in the FBI's raids of Cohen's properties last month that had to do with Gleason's discussions with Cohen about those two women.
Giuliani, speaking to Business Insider in a phone interview, said he had just seen the court filing and did not know whether Trump had been made aware of those allegations in 2013.
But he said the information may have made its way to Trump "because he was involved with that dispute over his school with Schneiderman that they realized was trumped up and that they were offended he was playing holier than thou when he turns out to be a pretty serious pervert."
"It's amazing how Democrats turn out to be perverts," Giuliani said, pointing to disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York and "this creep" Schneiderman. "Couldn't happen to a nicer guy."
Four women who were romantically involved with Schneiderman accused him of abuse in a New Yorker report published Monday evening. Schneiderman denied the allegations but resigned hours after the story broke.
An interesting Friday court filing tied together many threads
Gleason wrote that his office was contacted "some years ago" by two unrelated women who said Schneiderman was "sexually inappropriate" with them. Gleason said he advised one woman who came forward in 2013 against reporting the incident to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office because such claims were routinely ignored.
Gleason said he discussed the matter with Steve Dunleavy, a retired New York Post columnist, who then did so with Trump — something Gleason says he found out while talking with Cohen.
"During my communications with Mr. Cohen I shared with him certain details of Schneiderman's vile attacks on these two women," Gleason wrote. "The extent of Mr. Cohen memorializing any of our communications is unknown. However, these two women's confidentiality, as victims of a sexual assault, should be superior to that of any unrelated subpoena."
Gleason's information could help explain a cryptic September 2013 tweet from Trump about Schneiderman, Weiner, and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
"Weiner is gone, Spitzer is gone — next will be lightweight A.G. Eric Schneiderman," Trump tweeted. "Is he a crook? Wait and see, worse than Spitzer or Weiner."
Trump was alleged of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women during the presidential campaign, allegations he has strongly denied.
At the time, Schneiderman was investigating Trump University, and Trump was hammering Schneiderman in the press and on Twitter over the inquiry.
After he was elected president, Trump settled the Trump University litigation. Last month, the $25 million settlement was finalized for the students who said they were defrauded by the school.
Cohen did not return a request for comment from Business Insider. He is the focus of a criminal investigation in the Southern District of New York into whether he violated campaign-finance laws or committed bank fraud.
The documents obtained in the raids are being reviewed to determine what falls under attorney-client privilege and what prosecutors can use going forward. That process is being overseen by Barbara Jones, the special master appointed by Wood late last month.
