Rudy Giuliani has found a new ally in his globe-trotting attempts to fight President Trump’s impeachment, teaming up with a cable-news reporter and conspiracy-theory political cartoonist who has suggested that Hillary Clinton killed Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich and that Democrats eat people.
In his quest to defend Trump and dig up dirt on his political opponents, Giuliani has enlisted a wide variety of characters in both the United States and Europe. Now he’s placing a big bet on Chanel Rion, a One America News host who dabbles in bizarre conspiracy theories.
On Wednesday, The New York Times reported Giuliani traveled to Hungary and Ukraine this week to set up interviews with former Ukrainian prosecutors who have been critical of former Vice President Joe Biden. The interviews are meant for a series on pro-Trump cable channel One America News hosted by Rion, a reporter, anti-feminist children’s book author, and political cartoonist.
Rion’s show, which takes Giuliani and his allies at their word that Trump did nothing wrong by pressuring the Ukrainian government to investigate Biden and his family, has become a key part of Giuliani’s attempt to rally Trump’s base. But Rion herself has a colorful background that includes one prominent retracted story and support for several conspiracy theories.
Rion has been best known on the right since May, when she was hired as a White House correspondent for OAN, the upstart pro-Trump cable channel that frequently clashes with rival Fox News.