Seth Meyers Tears Rudy Giuliani to Shreds Over 'Mafia-Esque' Ukraine Call

Last night, Seth Meyers took "A Closer Look" at Rudy Giuliani's recently-unearthed call with top Ukrainian officials, during which he pressured the Ukrainians to investigate unfounded claims about Joe Biden, then a presidential candidate. Meyers was clear that the audio, from 2019, is "damning" for Giuliani, although he admitted that it's just one more concern atop a growing pile of legal woes. "How is it that every time these guys do something shady or illegal, they get caught on tape?" asked the Late Night host. "At this point, they're less like politicians and more like Twitch streamers."

Meyers went on to say that the Giuliani call sounds exactly like "dangling a quid pro quo," despite Trump's repeated insistence that there was "no quid pro quo" with Ukraine. "Trump denied it, uttering the same refrain so many times, it almost started to sound like a religious mantra you hear on the street from some weird cult member trying to convert you," he said.

"It was clear what they were doing was shady, and that they knew it was shady, because they all talk in that vague, mafia-esque tone where they never actually demand something explicitly, but they make it very clear that what they're asking for is a quid pro quo," Meyers explained, before playing an audio clip of the call. "Rudy sounds like he should be wearing a tracksuit and running his fingertip along the bar in a New Jersey restaurant saying, 'This is a nice place. Nice and flammable, if you know what I mean.'"

"Ah, the good old days. So quaint," he added. "Back when the biggest scandal in politics was the president trying to extort a foreign country. Before we were all trapped in our homes for a year to avoid a deadly plague, and a violent mob tried to overthrow democracy."

Late Night with Seth Meyers airs weeknights at 12:35 AM ET on NBC.

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.