So, I’m just going to put this out there….I think the evidence suggests that Rudy is secretly working for Pence, not President Trump.
Rudy’s actions make no sense if one was trying to protect Trump. He's admitted that the payments were on Trump’s behalf, admits that Trump knew about them, admits that Trump reimbursed his lawyer, admits there was an attorney-client relationship, and on and on and on.
Rudy is a favorite of the libertarian Koch brothers...as is Pence. The Koch brothers would rather have Pence as President rather than Rudy. When Trump reaches out to Rudy for help — after all, Rudy was a former AUSA and has connections throughout the New York FBI — the opportunity was too great to pass up. The Koch brothers connect Rudy with Pence, and he surreptitiously starts trying to help Pence get to be president.
The plan, if one wanted to call it that, is threefold. First: Rudy tells the truth outright, so that he looks like the last honest lawyer for Trump. Second, the blowback from the truth-telling is enormous — Press Secretary Sanders gets lambasted, and, more to the point, Fox News begins to criticize Trump repeatedly. Third, Pence’s wife begins to set the stage for the “revolting disgust” of the evangelicals.
In the end, everybody gets something out of this. Rudy? He will be the last honest man and will be rewarded with an attorney general appointment by Pence. Pence? He gets the shot to be President now, with no blood on his hands, and gets to be the leader of the evangelical revolt against Trump. The Koch brothers — they control the AG and the Presidency after Trump leaves office, and they have the cash on hand to bankroll Pence through the primary in 2020.
Poor Trump: he turned to a lawyer who he thought he could trust, but that lawyer serves pence’s best interests — not Trump — and has the media tools to get away with his actions. The Republican party will rally around Pence, as will the base once Fox completes its turn. These are very dangerous times for Trump.