Rudy Giuliani from Prince to Minion to Villain to Russian Asset - Page 1
From a hard nose prosecutor, to America’s mayor, to a right wing conspiracy nut, to a criminal suspect and a Russian asset the rise and fall of Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani along with Trump are using Russian talking points to promote Russia’s version of interference in the 2016 election. It now appears that Rudy Giuliani is a Russian asset; the question is Rudy Giuliani a useful idiot or a willing asset. You have to question are their allegiance to America or to Russia, more and more it looks like their allegiance is to Russia and not to America.
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani is an American politician, attorney, businessman, and public speaker who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He currently acts as an attorney to President Donald Trump. Politically a Democrat, then an Independent in the 1970s, and a Republican since the 1980s, Giuliani served as United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 1983.That year he became the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, holding the position until 1989. When Giuliani took office as Mayor of New York City, he appointed a new police commissioner, William Bratton, who applied the broken windows theory of urban decay, which holds that minor disorders and violations create a permissive atmosphere that leads to further and more serious crimes that can threaten the safety of a city; to prevent major crime, the theory holds, the police should enforce seemingly minor "quality-of-life" laws such as those outlawing public drinking, littering, and jay-walking.
VoxHow did America's Mayor wind up at the center of Trump's impeachment scandal?
By ReutersWASHINGTON, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani is liable for defaming two Georgia election workers who were the target of vote-rigging conspiracy accusations following the 2020 U.S. presidential election, a U.S. judge in Washington ruled on Wednesday.U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell issued the order as a sanction against Giuliani for failing to turn over electronic records sought by the two Fulton County election workers, Wandrea "Shaye" Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, in the case.Howell found that Giuliani refused to comply with a process for producing records, known as discovery, and rejected the former New York mayor's argument that the election workers used the lawsuit to harass him."Donning a cloak of victimization may play well on a public stage to certain audiences, but in a court of law this performance has served only to subvert the normal process of discovery in a straight-forward defamation case," Howell wrote in her order.
Story by Kelly McClureEarlier this year, Rudy Giuliani was hit with a sexual harassment suit by former staffer Noelle Dunphy, now vindicated in her claims via the release of audio transcripts indicating the extent to which they're valid. Filed Tuesday in New York Supreme Court and certified by a court reporting agency, Dunphy tips her case with documentation of conversations with Giuliani in which he makes lewd comments about her body and propositions her sexually, saying such things as, "These breasts belong to me. Nobody else can get near these, okay? I don't care if they're flirting or they give you business cards. These are mine, you got it?"
Story by Jordan Green, Investigative ReporterAs overlapping criminal investigations bear down on former President Donald Trump, one potential — and prominent — co-conspirator could face particularly pitched legal jeopardy as a key participant in the multi-state, multi-stage effort to overturn the 2020 election.Rudy Giuliani — the former mayor of New York City, former federal prosecutor, and one of the former president’s most loyal advocates — figures prominently in an alleged scheme to install fake Trump presidential electors, which appears to be the focal point of anticipated charges by both Special Counsel Jack Smith and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.Giuliani’s promotion of a debunked conspiracy theory about two election workers falsely accused of mishandling Fulton County ballots also implicates him in an infamous phone call from Trump to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — also a focal point of Willis’ investigation. During the phone call, Trump tried to pressure the state’s chief election officer into flipping the election in the former president’s favor.
By Melissa QuinnWashington — Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who served as an outside lawyer to former President Donald Trump, acknowledged Wednesday that he made "false" statements when he claimed two Georgia election workers engaged in voter fraud during the 2020 election. Giuliani, who's being sued by the now former election workers for defamation, still argued he was engaging in constitutionally protected speech when he made the allegations.Giuliani's concession came in a two-page stipulation he submitted to the federal District Court in Washington, D.C., as part of the lawsuit brought by Ruby Freeman and Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, who are mother and daughter. In the filing, the former mayor admitted that for the purposes of the litigation, "to the extent the statements were statements of fact and otherwise actionable, such actionable factual statements were false."Giuliani also admitted that "he does not dispute for purposes of this litigation, that the statements carry meaning that is defamatory per se," and no longer contests the "factual elements of liability" raised by Freeman and Moss. But he noted that the declaration has no effect on his argument that he made constitutionally protected statements or opinions, or that his conduct caused the pair any damage.
Story by Areeba ShahSpecial Counsel Jack Smith's team has shown an increasing interest in examining the involvement of former Donald Trump's attorneys and other individuals, who plotted to overturn the 2020 election, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.Prosecutors issued subpoenas focusing on several prominent individuals involved in the post-election efforts, according to the WSJ. These figures include conspiracy theorist and lawyer Sidney Powell, who propagated unsubstantiated allegations of extensive voter fraud. The subpoenas have also sought communications involving Emily Newman, a lawyer who collaborated with Powell, as well as Mike Roman, a Republican operative responsible for overseeing Election Day operations for the Trump campaign and deploying lawyers to key battleground states prior to November 2020.
Story by David McAfeeRudy Giuliani's voluntary interview with Jack Smith's team could signal the end for Donald Trump, as well as many of his former attorneys and associates, according to Watergate lawyer Nick Ackerman.Ackerman, speaking on MSNBC, was asked by host Ari Melber about the implications of the "proffer" interview Smith conducted with the former Trump attorney and former mayor. Some experts have suggested that Giuliani is aiming for a deal.Ackerman said that Giuliani was "smack-dab in the middle of everything." "If he comes totally clean here, Donald Trump is in big trouble, John Eastman is in big trouble, right down the line, possibly General Flynn, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon," he said.
Story by Gideon RubinA federal judge on Friday hit Rudy Giuliani with sanctions for failing search for and provide records in a defamation lawsuit Georgia election workers filed against him for accusing them of ballot fraud in the 2020 presidential election, Reuters reports.Donald Trump’s former lawyer was ordered to pay unspecified attorney fees and other legal costs associated with efforts to compel Giuliani to search for the documents, the report said. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell had previously given the former New York City mayor until June 30 to turn over the records.Howell determined that Giuliani had “arbitrarily limited” his records search of a database with messages and documents before federal authorities seized his electronic devices in April 2021, and that his manual search for messages after that were “imprecise.”
Story by Gabriella FerrigineAwoman employed by former New York City mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani alleged in a lawsuit filed on Monday that Giuliani talked about selling pardons and shared plans to flip the 2020 presidential election.Noelle Dunphy in a 70-page complaint stated that Giuliani repeatedly sexually assaulted and harassed her, often engaged in racist and antisemitic language, and did not pay her. Dunphy, who is seeking $10 million in damages, also says Giuliani kept her employment "secret" once she was hired, only paying her around $12,000 and owing her nearly $2 million in unpaid compensation."Mayor Rudy Giuliani unequivocally denies the allegations raised by Ms. Dunphy," a Giuliani spokesperson said. "Mayor Giuliani's lifetime of public service speaks for itself and he will pursue all available remedies and counterclaims."
By Jacob ShamsianRudy Giuliani asked an employee to delete all communications and avoid speaking to the FBI — before later asking her "for help in Googling information about obstruction of justice," according to a new lawsuit.The lawsuit, filed Monday by Noelle Dunphy, alleges Giuliani serially sexually assaulted her throughout 2019 and 2020 while she worked for him . The lawsuit claims that, after finding out Dunphy was separating from a partner amid a domestic violence dispute, Giuliani promised her a high-paying job. Throughout her employment as an assistant, Giuliani frequently harassed her and pressured her into sex, Dunphy alleges.Dunphy's work for Giuliani overlaps with an FBI counterintelligence investigation into Giuliani that began in 2019 and ended last year without any charges. According to the lawsuit, around May 2019, Giuliani told Dunphy to delete her messages with him.
By Andrew FeinbergA former aide to former Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani says he told her the ex-New York City mayor and then-president Donald Trump were offering to sell presidential pardons for $2 million apiece, according to court documents.The bombshell allegation was levied in a complaint filed against Mr Giuliani by Noelle Dunphy, a New York-based public relations professional who is suing him for “unlawful abuses of power, wide-ranging sexual assault and harassment, wage theft, and other misconduct” committed while she worked for him in 2019 and 2020.The lawsuit also claims that she was subjected to sexual assault, harassment, wage theft and other misconduct by Mr Giuliani, and alleges that she was forced to perform sex acts on him and work in the nude.
Story by Virginia ChamleeRudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who has, in recent years, made headlines for echoing Donald Trump's false election claims, sparks a common response among much of the public these days. Watching the former mayor at press conferences delivered in a landscaping company's parking lot, or while hair dye gathers in beads at his temples and slowly trickles down his face, many find themselves wondering: How could America's Mayor — a man revered as a hero after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — have fallen so far?A new four-part documentary series called When Truth Isn't Truth: The Rudy Giuliani Story explores that narrative, delving into Giuliani's early days as a prosecutor and his more recent activities with Team Trump, to demonstrate that "America's Mayor" has always been a controversial figure who never shies away from the limelight, even if it means skirting the law. In the series, friends of Giuliani's are heard calling him a "crusader of truth." Former N.Y.C. Mayor Bill de Blasio calls him "the antichrist." Those altogether different evaluations of Giuliani, says series director Rebecca Gitlitz, highlight just how divisive — and complicated — the man is.
Zoe Tillman(Bloomberg) -- Legal ethics prosecutions against Rudy Giuliani and Jeffrey Clark are progressing along with state, federal, and congressional probes exploring the role that they and others played in aiding Donald Trump’s effort to undo the 2020 election. The DC Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel filed separate cases over the summer alleging that Giuliani and Clark -- both members of the local bar -- violated rules that govern the conduct of licensed attorneys. Clark, a former Justice Department official under Trump, responded earlier this month to the charges, which accuse him of dishonesty and making false statements. His lawyers argued that he did nothing wrong or unlawful. They say the DC Bar’s regulators lack jurisdiction to prosecute him over advice he gave to a sitting president, that the case improperly delved into executive branch discussions, and that Clark was being targeted for his political affiliation as a Republican.
Hugo Lowell in WashingtonDonald Trump’s onetime attorney Rudy Giuliani testified to the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack at length on Friday but declined to discuss the involvement of congressional Republicans in efforts to overturn the 2020 election result, according to sources familiar with the matter. The move by Giuliani to refuse to give insight into Republican involvement could mean his appearance only marginally advanced the inquiry into his ploy to have then-vice president Mike Pence unlawfully keep Trump in office after he lost to Joe Biden. However, he did potentially pique the committee’s interest by discussing two notable meetings at the White House involving Trump that took place just weeks before the Capitol insurrection. Giuliani asserted privilege and the work-product doctrine to decline to respond when asked to detail the roles played by House and Senate Republicans in the scheme to stop Congress’s certification of Biden’s victory on 6 January 2021, the sources said. The panel was not expecting Giuliani to divulge damning information against Trump, since committee counsel had agreed with Giuliani in advance that he should not have to violate legitimate claims of privilege he might have as the former president’s attorney.
Aaron KellerA federal judge on Wednesday agreed to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two Georgia election workers against the company which owns the One America News (OAN) Network, several of the network’s executives, and correspondent Chanel Rion. The judge, however, agreed to keep the case alive against one defendant: Rudy Giuliani. The dismissal with prejudice was not a surprise, as it was directly requested by the plaintiffs and agreed to by the defendants pursuant to a settlement agreement that has been in the works for weeks. A status report dated April 21 said that the parties held “a successful one-day mediation on April 19, 2022” and on that date “agreed upon and signed a binding set of settlement terms.” The complete paperwork was drawn up and signed in a predictable fashion shortly thereafter.
By David Edwards | Raw StoryFormer New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was an attorney for Donald Trump, said this week that his son's first act as governor would be to fire the district attorney who decided not to prosecute the former president. While speaking to conservative broadcaster Steve Bannon, Giuliani revealed that his son, Andrew Giuliani, plans to fire New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg despite the decision not to prosecute Trump. "You're telling me -- I want to make sure we're clear -- Andrew Giuliani as governor of New York, the first action he will take will be to dismiss -- and they have the power to dismiss the DA?" Bannon asked. "And the mayor!" Giuliani confirmed. "I could have at any time been dismissed by the governor of New York."
MSN.comLev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani who was previously convicted on campaign finance charges, pleaded guilty Friday to a wire fraud conspiracy charge that resulted from his work at a startup insurance company he co-founded. Federal prosecutors accused 50-year-old Parnas of duping investors in Fraud Guarantee, a company he established in Florida with a co-defendant, David Correia, who previously pleaded guilty. Parnas appeared by video in front of U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan and said "between approximately 2012 and 2019 I agreed with another person to give false information" to potential investors.
By Nathan LayneDec 23 (Reuters) - Two Georgia election workers who were the target of vote-rigging conspiracy theories have sued the far-right One America News Network, its top executives, and former President Donald Trump's ex-lawyer Rudy Giuliani for allegedly spreading lies about them. The defamation lawsuit was filed on Thursday in federal court in Washington, D.C., by Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, a voter registration officer in Fulton County, and her mother, Ruby Freeman, who was a temp worker for the 2020 election. The lawsuit targets San Diego-based Herring Networks, which owns and operates One America News Network, as well as the channel's chief executive Robert Herring, president Charles Herring, and reporter Chanel Rion. more...
He’s lost his license to practice law in New York and D.C., the FBI raided him, his friend’s on trial, he’s racking up huge bills, and even Fox News doesn’t want him around.Molly Jong-Fast Contributing EditorThere are many mysteries in American life, but few more puzzling than Rudy Giuliani. “America’s mayor” has been under federal investigation since roughly the Pliocene, though in August he did promise us that “I committed no crime,” and then the polymath added, “If you think I did commit a crime, you’re probably really stupid because you don’t know who I am.”
Trump ally learned of his expulsion on the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, according to PoliticoMartin PengellyRudy Giuliani has reportedly been banned from Fox News. “Rudy is really hurt,” Politico quoted a source “close to Giuliani” saying. According to the website, the prominent Trump ally learned of his expulsion on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, after which, as New York mayor, he became a national figure. more...
Ryan LucasA New York state court has suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law after concluding that he made false statements alleging rampant fraud to try to overturn Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election. In a 33-page decision released Thursday, a New York state appellate court said there was "uncontroverted evidence" that Giuliani "communicated demonstrably false and misleading statement to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump's failed effort at reelection in 2020." more...
Bart Jansen | USA TODAYWASHINGTON – Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, repeatedly pressured the Ukrainian government to investigate Democrat Joe Biden over a 40-minute phone call in 2019, according to an audio recording obtained by CNN. During the call with U.S. diplomat Kurt Volker and Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Giuliani can be heard urging an investigation of Biden, who unseated Trump in the 2020 election. Giuliani said a public announcement would “clear the air really well” and allow for a possible meeting between Zelensky and Trump. more...
Alison Durkee Forbes StaffPennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and other state leaders are calling for lawyers who led post-election lawsuits trying to overturn the election results to be sanctioned—including attorney Rudy Giuliani—becoming the latest battleground state to go after GOP lawyers and plaintiffs who unsuccessfully challenged the vote count. Shapiro and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf sent a letter to the Attorney Grievance Committee at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, where Giuliani is licensed to practice law, as part of the committee’s investigation into Giuliani, which says the attorney should be “appropriately disciplined” for his “reckless conduct” after the election. more...
Sophia AnkelTrump allies are growing increasingly concerned about the future after former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's office and apartment were raided by federal agents this week, according to CNN. On Wednesday, Giuliani, who acted as Trump's former attorney, was the target of two raids in which investigators seized several of his electronic devices as well as a computer belonging to his personal assistant. The searches were in connection to a criminal probe into Giuliani's dealings in Ukraine, The New York Times reported. Trump's allies and former members of his inner circle are now reportedly becoming increasingly worried about further raids and upcoming FBI investigations. more...
By Ben Morse, CNN(CNN) The golfing world has rallied around Michelle Wie West following comments made by Donald Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani "objectifying" the five-time LPGA Tour winner. The former New York mayor appeared last Thursday on the 'War Room' podcast hosted by Trump's ex-adviser Steve Bannon and was remembering a round of golf he played with Wie West and the late talk show host Rush Limbaugh at a charity event in 2014. As he recalls it, Limbaugh was complaining about the "paparazzi" and blamed Giuliani, only for the former New York mayor to point out photographers were for the then Wie -- she married Jonnie West, director of basketball operations for the Golden State Warriors in 2019. "On the green is Michelle Wie and she is getting ready to putt," Giuliani said on the podcast on Thursday. "Now Michelle Wie is gorgeous. She's six feet. And she has a strange putting stance. She bends all the way over. And her panties show. And the press was going crazy." Giuliani went on to finish his story asking, "Is that OK to tell that joke, I'm not sure?" To which Bannon replied, "We already told it, so I don't know." more...
By Stephen Rex Brown | New York Daily NewsRudy Giuliani spent a week dodging service of a $1.3 billion lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems after publicly declaring he was ready for the legal fight, a source told the Daily News. Dominion hired the process servers to hand Giuliani its mammoth 107-page lawsuit after the former mayor ignored requests to simply accept it via email, the source said. The voting machine company claims Giuliani destroyed its reputation by knowingly spreading lies that it helped steal the election for President Biden. On Tuesday, the company filed a separate defamation suit, also seeking $1.3 billion, against MyPillow CEO Mike Lendell for making similar bogus claims Dominion played a role in election fraud. more...
NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson explains to CNN's Wolf Blitzer why the NAACP is backing the lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and others for inciting the Capitol riot. video...
By: Associated PressThe lawsuit from Mississippi’s Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is part of an expected wave of litigation over the Jan. 6 riot and is believed to be the first filed by a member of Congress. It seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages. The case also names as defendants the Republican former president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and groups including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, extremist organizations that had members charged by the Justice Department with taking part in the siege.Lawyers for Trump have denied that he incited the riot. A Trump adviser didn’t immediately comment about the lawsuit on Tuesday, and a lawyer for Giuliani did not immediately return an email seeking comment. The suit, filed in federal court in Washington under a Reconstruction-era law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, comes three days after Trump was acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial that centered on allegations that he incited the riot, in which five people died. That acquittal is likely to open the door to fresh legal scrutiny over Trump’s actions before and during the siege. more...
By Simon Shuster“Let these investigations go forward,” Rudy Giuliani told the presidential headquarters in Kyiv, Ukraine, his voice turning impatient. “Get someone to investigate this.” On the other end of the line, hunched over a speakerphone, two Ukrainian officials listened in disbelief as Giuliani demanded probes that could help his client, then-President Donald Trump, win another term in office. The 40-minute call, a transcript of which was obtained by TIME, provides the clearest picture yet of Giuliani’s attempts to pressure the Ukrainians on Trump’s behalf. The President’s personal lawyer toggled between veiled threats—“Be careful,” he warned repeatedly—and promises to help improve Ukraine’s relations with Trump. “My only motive—it isn’t to get anybody in trouble who doesn’t deserve to be in trouble,” Giuliani said. “For our country’s sake and your country’s sake, we [need to] get all these facts straight,” he added. “We fix them and we put it behind us.” more...
By Oliver Darcy, CNN BusinessNew York (CNN) A voting technology company swept up in baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election filed a monster $2.7 billion lawsuit on Thursday against Fox News, some of the network's star hosts, and pro-Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, alleging the parties worked in concert to wage a "disinformation campaign" that has jeopardized its very survival. "We have no choice," Antonio Mugica, the chief executive and founder of Smartmatic, told CNN Business in an interview about the company's decision to file the lawsuit. "The disinformation campaign that was launched against us is an obliterating one. For us, this is existential, and we have to take action." The lawsuit, filed in New York state court, accused Fox, Giuliani, Powell and hosts Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, and Jeanine Pirro of intentionally lying about Smartmatic in an effort to mislead the public into the false belief that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump. "They needed a villain," the lawsuit said. "They needed someone to blame. They needed someone whom they could get others to hate. A story of good versus evil, the type that would incite an angry mob, only works if the storyteller provides the audience with someone who personifies evil." more...
By Katherine FungRudy Giuliani is no stranger to being fact-checked by news outlets and journalists, but even fellow Trump ally Steve Bannon cut off the attorney during a Friday interview. Bannon, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump during his final days in office and promoted the January 6 rally that preceded the U.S. Capitol riot, invited Trump attorney Giuliani to his War Room podcast to discuss the ex-president's impeachment defense. While Giuliani said he'd be unable to defend his client in the Senate trial because he was a witness who spoke at the rally, he pushed claims that an anti-Trump Republican group, the Lincoln Project, helped rioters storm the Capitol. more...
By Khaleda RahmanAfter weeks of denial, former president Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani has conceded that an associate of his did ask for him to be paid $20,000 a day for his work for the Trump campaign after the 2020 election. Giuliani acknowledged to The New York Times on Friday night that his associate Maria Ryan had sent the email shortly after Election Day, but denied being aware of it at the time. He maintained that Ryan had consulted with another associate, Larry Levy, about the payment Giuliani should seek while he was traveling. "Mr. Giuliani began working the case in the wee hours of the morning on November 4," Ryan wrote in the email sent from a Giuliani Partners account, The Times reported. Noting that a team in Washington, D.C. was working out of rented hotel rooms, Ryan added that instead of $2,000 an hour, "we will contract for $20,000 a day which will include all of the expenses for Mr. Giuliani and his staff." more...
By Jeffery MartinRudy Giuliani, attorney for former President Donald Trump, responded Monday to a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed against him by Dominion Voting Systems. Giuliani had publicly supported Trump's baseless claims that widespread voter fraud had been a factor in President Joe Biden's victory. Among the conspiracy theories peddled by Giuliani was an allegation that tabulation machines manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems had been programmed to flip votes from Trump to Biden. Many of the lawsuits filed by Giuliani and other members of Trump's legal team, attempting to overturn the results of the election, failed. In its Monday filing, Dominion said that Giuliani's allegations had damaged the company's reputation. During Monday's edition of Giuliani's Chat with the Mayor program on WABC, Giuliani scoffed at the billion-dollar lawsuit. more...
By John KruzelDominion Voting Systems on Monday filed a lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani alleging that the former New York City mayor spread numerous defamatory statements about the voting machine company while he helped lead former President Trump’s failed post-election legal campaign. The company is seeking $1.3 billion in damages over what it called a “viral disinformation campaign,” alleging that Giuliani made malicious false accusations against Dominion, including that the company had engaged in voter fraud and election fixing. “For Dominion — whose business is producing and providing voting systems for elections — there are no accusations that could do more to damage Dominion’s business or to impugn Dominion’s integrity, ethics, honesty, and financial integrity,” reads the 107-page complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. more...
Joe PriceMuch has been said about the Borat sequel's infamous Rudy Giuliani scene, and Sacha Baron Cohen has now revealed how it almost came apart amid fears it would veer into "an even more ugly situation." In a long conversation with Ben Affleck for Variety's Actors on Actors series, Cohen broke down what he went through for the inteview between Giuliani and Borat's teen daughter Tutar, and how he actually "interrupted the scene." Upon Affleck saying he was "shocked" by the moment, which saw Giuliani reaching into his pants after joining in-character actress Maria Bakalova in the bedroom, Cohen revealed the process he endured and how it almost played out differently. "In that scene, we built a secret compartment inside a wardrobe for me to stand in, and it was about six foot six," he said, adding that he was in "complete darkness." He and the crew planned to communicate with a mobile phone as he changed into an "erotic outfit to Seduce Giuliani with," but as he turned on the phone he saw it only had four percent battery. "It’s an hour-and-a-half scene," he continued, "And actually, I interrupted the scene. There was one other version where room service brings in a trolley, and I’m hiding in the trolley. I never thought that he was actually going to go in the room." more...
Martin PengellyAn associate of Rudy Giuliani told a former CIA officer a presidential pardon was “going to cost $2m”, the New York Times reported on Sunday in the latest bombshell to break across the last, chaotic days of Donald Trump’s presidency. The report detailed widespread and in some cases lucrative lobbying involving people seeking a pardon as Trump’s time in office winds down. The 45th president, impeached twice, will leave power on Wednesday with the inauguration of Joe Biden. The former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who was jailed in 2012 for leaking the identity of an operative involved in torture, told the Times he laughed at the remark from the associate of Giuliani, the former New York mayor who as Trump’s personal attorney is reportedly a possible pardon recipient himself. “Two million bucks – are you out of your mind?” Kiriakou reportedly said. “Even if I had two million bucks, I wouldn’t spend it to recover a $700,000 pension.” An associate of Kiriakou reported the conversation to the FBI, the Times said. Meant to reward offenders who show contrition, presidential pardons do not imply innocence. Presidents often use them to reward allies but Trump has taken the practice to extremes. more...
Dan ManganThe District of Columbia’s attorney general said Monday that he is looking at whether to charge Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks with inciting the violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol last week by a horde of President Donald Trump’s supporters. Karl Racine also left open the door to prosecuting President Trump himself for the same conduct once he leaves office later this month. Racine’s comments came during an interview on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” after he was shown video clips of the Trumps and the president’s personal lawyer, Giuliani, whipping up a crowd at a rally outside the White House last Wednesday, and asked about the trio and Brooks, an Alabama Republican. more...
By Chandelis Duster and Lauren del Valle, CNN(CNN) The New York State Bar Association has opened an inquiry into removing Rudy Giuliani from its membership for his role in provoking a pro-Trump mob to storm the US Capitol and attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, the group said Monday.The NYSBA is a voluntary bar association that cannot disbar Giuliani, a former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York who is now President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, so the ousting would not prevent him from representing the President in an impeachment trial or other pending litigation against him. But the rare step by the association adds to the layer of criticism Giuliani has faced from the legal community over his defense of Trump. Giuliani has continuously spread baseless claims and conspiracy theories about the election despite no evidence of voter fraud. "If we're wrong, we will be made fools of, but if we're right a lot of them will go to jail. Let's have trial by combat," Giuliani said at Wednesday's rally. The NYSBA, which condemned the siege at the US Capitol, said in a statement that it has received "hundreds of complaints in recent months" regarding Giuliani's efforts to challenge the election on Trump's behalf and that his statements at the rally have prompted the group's president, Scott M. Karson, to determine if the attorney should be removed. more...
The penalties target the “inner circle” of pro-Russian Ukrainian lawmaker Andrii Derkach.By QUINT FORGEYThe Treasury Department announced a new spate of sanctions on Monday targeting the “inner circle” of Andrii Derkach, the pro-Russian Ukrainian lawmaker who aided Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to probe unsubstantiated allegations of wrongdoing by President-elect Joe Biden and his family. The department had previously designated Derkach himself for sanctions related to foreign interference in the 2020 election in September. But on Monday, the department “took additional action against seven individuals and four entities” that it alleged were “part of a Russia-linked foreign influence network” associated with him.“Russian disinformation campaigns targeting American citizens are a threat to our democracy,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “The United States will continue to aggressively defend the integrity of our election systems and processes.” In his own statement acknowledging the sanctions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Derkach “has been an active Russian agent for more than a decade, maintaining close connections with Russian intelligence services.” Those designated for sanctions on Monday included former Ukrainian government officials Konstantin Kulyk, Oleksandr Onyshchenko and Andriy Telizhenko, as well as current Ukrainain lawmaker Oleksandr Dubinsky. more...
Kelsey VlamisA top Georgia election official said Rudy Giuliani "lied" over election-fraud claims by presenting a deceptively edited video as evidence, despite having access to the full footage. Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for Georgia's secretary of state, made the comments in a "60 Minutes" interview that aired Sunday, during which he described President Donald Trump's claims of voter fraud as "fantastical, unreasonable," and "lacking in any factual reality." Sterling, a Republican who voted for Trump, told the interviewer Scott Pelley that Giuliani presented a selectively edited video to Georgia state senators as evidence of election fraud. In a clip shown on "60 Minutes" of Giuliani presenting the video, he calls it a "powerful smoking gun." Giuliani's video, which also aired in national Trump campaign ads, claims to show cases of ballots removed from under a table and "added in secret." more...
Representative Bill Pascrell says, “Mr. Giuliani has participated in frivolous lawsuits and used our nation’s courts to assault public confidence in the electoral system.”By John NicholsFederal Judge Matthew Brann dismissed Donald Trump’s over-the-top challenge to Pennsylvania’s election results with a withering rebuke to arguments made by the leader of defeated president’s legal team: “This claim, like Frankenstein’s Monster, has been haphazardly stitched together.” Then the judge, a former Republican Party operative whose biography identifies him as a member of the conservative Federalist Society, let rip. Describing former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani’s proposal to disenfranchise 7 million Pennsylvania voters as “unhinged,” the judge for the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania wrote: more...
By Benjamin FearnowPresident Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said any Republican who is against overturning the November election results should be removed from the party, labeling several GOP lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Arizona "liars" and a "disgrace." Giuliani told Arizona Governor Doug Ducey he "should join another political party" alongside any Republican state legislators who have failed to assist Trump's legal team in overturning President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Giuliani explained Trump and Vice President Mike Pence's final legal options to remain in office included their submission of "two sets of state electors" for Congress to count this week. Giuliani said one outcome that allows Trump to remain in office is if "you can't determine a winner, but you can determine the election was illegal."Giuliani laid out the legal options for Pence to refuse to count at least six states where "confusing" results were contested by Trump. Making several demands for party loyalty on conservative Charlie Kirk's podcast, Giuliani said the GOP should be taking down the names of anyone "not supporting us." Giuliani railed against the "coward" Senate Republicans who are not joining the 12 "sedition caucus" members who plan to disrupt Wednesday's Electoral College vote count. The former New York City mayor said Pennsylvania's election officials are a "disgrace," and he called Georgia GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger "a liar." more...
Dan ManganPresident Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and White House counsel Pat Cipollone both have reportedly been sent letters by defamation attorneys directing them to save all records related to claims that Dominion Voting Systems played a key role allegedly swindling Trump out of an election win. Giuliani also has been warned by Dominion’s lawyers that “litigation regarding these issues is imminent,” according to a new report by CNN, which was shown a copy of the letter.The letters to Cipollone and Giuliani reportedly demanded that Giuliani stop “making defamatory claims against Dominion,” which makes voting machines. Trump, his campaign lawyers and allies including the attorney Sidney Powell have claimed, without evidence, that illegal vote changes made to ballot counting machines fraudulently gave the national presidential election to Joe Biden. Powell last week was sent a similar letter from Dominion’s lawyers about her “wild, knowingly baseless, and false accusations” about the company. The letter demanded that she retract her claims and preserve documents related to them. more...
The Giuliani of the ’90s was far from perfect, but he wasn’t a ranting, bug-eyed ideologue.By Fred KaplanAs Rudy Giuliani writhes in his bed at Georgetown University Medical Center, his mind might well be leafing through the storied chapters of his life and how it came to this—the hero of 9/11, “America’s Mayor,” once a plausible candidate for president, now suffering from COVID-19 as a result of the devil’s pact he struck with Donald Trump. His eight years as the mayor of New York City at the turn of the century were packed with controversy, mainly of his own stubborn making, but he was never the ranting, eye-bulging water boy of an ideologue that we’ve seen of late at political conventions, press conferences, and gonzo legal proceedings.The Giuliani of the 1990s and early 2000s was, for the most part, a pragmatist: an economic conservative but a social liberal, in favor of gun control, abortion rights, gay rights, and immigration reform. As the Boston Globe’s New York bureau chief from 1995-2002, I talked with Giuliani several times. (When the city was in financial straits, he viewed publicity in out-of-town papers as economic development.) In the summer of 1996, I asked him why he wasn’t at the Republican National Convention, which was going in San Diego. “It’s not my sort of thing,” he replied. “I’m much closer to moderates in both parties than to extremists in either.” more...
Not one but two farts could be heard as Giuliani spread election conspiracies in Michigan on Wednesday.David Mack BuzzFeed News ReporterAs he works to spread lies in order to undermine the results of the presidential election, Rudy Giuliani's list of shambolic media appearances continues to grow. There was, of course, the notorious Philadelphia press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, which is, as the name suggests, a landscaping company and not a luxury hotel. Then there was the Washington, DC, event where he seemingly melted before the cameras as hair dye leaked down his face. And on Wednesday night there was a chaotic and conspiracy-filled hearing in Lansing, Michigan, in which not one but two fart sounds could be heard as Giuliani spoke about four hours into the lengthy event.Responding to a question from Michigan state Rep. Darrin Camilleri about the New York Times story that Giuliani is lobbying President Donald Trump for a preemptive pardon, the attorney objected vehemently to what he said was a defamatory question. "I will ask that he be disciplined for that," Giuliani said as a microphone picked up a faint tooting sound. Roughly 90 seconds later, as Camilleri pressed Giuliani to respond to Attorney General Bill Barr's statement that federal prosecutors had found no evidence of election fraud that would overturn President-elect Joe Biden's win, yet another more audible whoosh could be heard. "The answer that I gave you was that they didn't bother to interview a single witness," Giuliani said as what sounded like a burst of literal hot air popped out during his last two words of metaphorical hot air. more...
By Natalie ColarossiDuring an appearance on Fox News Friday night, President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said the campaign doesn't need courts to change the outcome of the election, and accused one Nevada judge of creating "a fantasy out of the law." Giuliani, a key voice in the election fraud fight, went on Sean Hannity's show after several states – including Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Michigan – rejected cases that day.In Nevada, Judge James Todd Russell said that he saw no clear or convincing proof to nullify the results of the election or to change the outcome in Trump's favor. "Contestants did not prove ... that illegal votes were cast and counted that should have been rejected during the signature verification process, or legal votes were not counted that should have been accepted" in numbers that would have swayed the outcome of the election, the judge said. In response, Giuliani accused the judge of unfairly changing the law. "The reality is, the judge has completely changed the law, he's created a fantasy out of the law," he said. " more...
A rebuke from the president’s lawyer came after the attorney general affirmed that there was no evidence of large-scale fraud during this year’s election.By MATTHEW CHOIAttorney General William Barr on Tuesday affirmed that there was no evidence of large-scale fraud during this year’s election, prompting a stern rebuke from President Donald Trump’s legal team as the president continues in his efforts to negate the results. Normally a dependable deputy to the president, Barr contradicted Trump’s persistent allegations of a stolen election in an interview to The Associated Press. Trump’s legal team, led by Rudy Giuliani, has insisted on investigations into what they say are troubling irregularities but are actually normal errors expected in any election. The president’s critics have called out the efforts as a thinly veiled power grab.“To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,” Barr said, according to the AP. Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, senior legal adviser to the campaign, hit back at Barr only minutes after the AP reported his remarks. The two claimed that the Justice Department had not sufficiently investigated allegations of election irregularities and had failed to interview witnesses who claimed to see illegal behavior. Trump’s legal team has peddled eyebrow-raising conspiracy theories about the election, in spite of election officials in states across the country affirming the vote was fair. Attorney Sidney Powell, in particular, has made waves for falsely alleging instances of foreign interference and voting machines changing votes against voters’ will. Trump’s legal team distanced itself from Powell shortly after. more...
Dan Mangan, Kevin BreuningerPresident Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani recently talked to the president about possibly receiving a preemptive pardon before Trump leaves office, according to a report Tuesday. The discussions, detailed by The New York Times, come as Giuliani leads last-ditch legal efforts by Trump’s campaign to reverse President-elect Joe Biden’s projected win in the Electoral College. “Not true,” Giuliani told CNBC via a text message when asked about the Times’ report.Giuliani, who has not been charged with any crime, was known as far back as a year ago to be under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. That’s the office Giuliani led in the 1980s, before getting elected New York City mayor in 1993. The probe reportedly was focused on Giuliani’s actions in Ukraine, where he for months tried to dig up damaging information about Biden and his son Hunter Biden. The status of that investigation is not known.Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives last year, and ultimately acquitted after a Senate trial, for pressuring the president of Ukraine to launch an investigation of Hunter Biden’s business dealings in that country while Trump was withholding congressionally approved military aid to that nation. The Times, citing two people familiar with the matter, reported that Giuliani talked to Trump about a preemptive pardon as recently as last week. more...
Joshua Bote USA TODAYMere hours after an embarrassing press conference, President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani suggested that someone should “cut the head off” Democrat leaders. Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity, Giuliani used a throat-slitting gesture after making baseless claims about the electoral process, including a conspiracy that a German company coordinated with the Biden campaign to “come up” with votes. “Somebody’s gotta cut the head off,” Giuliani said as he made the gesture on the show, aired Thursday night.His comments during the segment bear a resemblance to the falsehoods he made during the press briefing Thursday, which was held at the Republican National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill. Throughout, he alleged he had evidence of “voter fraud” despite not having proof. The press briefing went viral, in large part due to an apparent mishap in which Giuliani's hair dye leeched off his scalp.A day after the conference, his son and a Trump staffer, Andrew Giuliani, tested positive for COVID-19. more...
By Andrea SalcedoLike many who watched Rudolph W. Giuliani’s Thursday’s news conference, Trevor Noah said he had trouble focusing on the bizarre conspiracy theories and unproved accusations of election fraud spouted by President Trump’s personal attorney. The “Daily Show” host was too focused on the mysterious, dark liquid that began streaming down both sides of Giuliani’s heavily perspiring face.“Part of me feels bad for Rudy because this was the biggest press conference of his life, his big chance to get Donald Trump another term as president, and his hair ruined the entire moment,” Noah joked on Thursday night’s show. “Can you imagine if Abraham Lincoln was reading the Emancipation Proclamation and his beard just walked away?”While journalists worked to fact-check Giuliani’s latest round of baseless claims in service of Trump’s quest to overturn the election, many others, like Noah, became obsessed with the more pressing question: What was going on with Giuliani’s face? Was it hair dye? Motor oil? In fact, stylists told the New York Times that it probably wasn’t dye, which doesn’t drip like that due to sweat; their best guess was that he may have used mascara or a touch-up pen to even out his sideburns. more...
Trump’s personal lawyer was trying to drum up interest in tales of election rigging – but viewers were drawn to the drama on his headMartin PengellyOn 7 November, the day the presidential election was called for Joe Biden, former New York mayor turned Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani addressed the media at a landscaping company between a sex shop and a crematorium on Philadelphia’s industrial fringe. For two weeks, as the Trump campaign continued to claim without evidence that the election had been stolen, America wondered if Giuliani could possibly ever top that. On Thursday, he gave it a damned good try.A day after his claims of massive voter fraud fell flat in a Pennsylvania court room, Giuliani staged another press conference, this time in slightly more salubrious surrounds, at Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington DC. But it did not go well. First, while claiming Republican poll observers had been kept too far away from ballot counters in Philadelphia, a key Trump claim in a vital state which like others fell to Biden, Giuliani attempted to recite a scene from My Cousin Vinny, an Oscar-winning comedy from 1992.“Did you all watch My Cousin Vinny? You know the movie? It’s one of my favorite law movies, because he comes from Brooklyn,” he said. Giuliani, who also comes from Brooklyn, tried to sum up a key plot point from Jonathan Lynn’s film, in which Joe Pesci’s personal injury lawyer, hitherto out of his depth in a murder trial, manages to discredit a key witness by proving her vision to be impaired. more...
Dan ManganPresident-elect Joe Biden’s campaign on Thursday belittled President Donald Trump’s legal team for promoting “thoroughly discredited claims of voter fraud,” allegations that have failed to convince judges, elections officials or much of the American public. Biden’s campaign spokesman blasted the president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani for a bizarre press conference where he made far-fetched claims of a “communist” plot to rig voting machines, berated reporters and sweated so profusely that hair dye dripped down both his cheeks.“What I’m describing to you is a massive fraud,” Giuliani said. “It isn’t a little teeny one.” The former New York City mayor, who long ago was a widely respected top federal prosecutor, also cited the Joe Pesci legal-comedy film “My Cousin Vinny” during a nearly hour-long stemwinder before anyone else on the self-described “elite strike force team” of Trump lawyers managed to get a word in edgewise. Biden spokesman Michael Gwin gave Giuliani’s performance a solid thumbs down. more...
Trump’s personal lawyer was trying to drum up interest in tales of election rigging – but viewers were drawn to the drama on his headMartin PengellyOn 7 November, the day the presidential election was called for Joe Biden, former New York mayor turned Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani addressed the media at a landscaping company between a sex shop and a crematorium on Philadelphia’s industrial fringe. For two weeks, as the Trump campaign continued to claim without evidence that the election had been stolen, America wondered if Giuliani could possibly ever top that. On Thursday, he gave it a damned good try.A day after his claims of massive voter fraud fell flat in a Pennsylvania court room, Giuliani staged another press conference, this time in slightly more salubrious surrounds, at Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington DC. But it did not go well. First, while claiming Republican poll observers had been kept too far away from ballot counters in Philadelphia, a key Trump claim in a vital state which like others fell to Biden, Giuliani attempted to recite a scene from My Cousin Vinny, an Oscar-winning comedy from 1992.“Did you all watch My Cousin Vinny? You know the movie? It’s one of my favorite law movies, because he comes from Brooklyn,” he said. Giuliani, who also comes from Brooklyn, tried to sum up a key plot point from Jonathan Lynn’s film, in which Joe Pesci’s personal injury lawyer, hitherto out of his depth in a murder trial, manages to discredit a key witness by proving her vision to be impaired. more...
By Tara Subramaniam, Holmes Lybrand and CNN staff, CNN(CNN) In a wild, tangent-filled and often contentious press briefing led by President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, the Trump campaign's legal team laid out its case for widespread voter fraud in the election. The roughly 90-minute briefing was overflowing with falsehoods and conspiracy theories. At no point did Trump's legal team offer any proof for their allegations of widespread fraud. Jenna Ellis, a legal adviser for the campaign, said the group was laying out an "introductory statement" with more to come, and called the team an "elite strike force." Also working for the campaign, attorney Sidney Powell made extreme, baseless claims about communist Venezuela and George Soros supposedly interfering in the US election. Giuliani on multiple occasions made allegations citing individuals he said couldn't be revealed for their own safety and wellbeing. Many of their specific claims have already been refuted by federal election security experts and a wide, bipartisan array of election administrators across the country.Certification in Wayne CountyGiuliani said the Trump campaign withdrew one case in Michigan because its goal was to get the Wayne County board to decertify and they did.Facts First: This is false. The county's results were certified on Tuesday night. Two Republican members of the Board initially deadlocked the vote but then reversed their decision and voted to certify Tuesday night. They have since sent in affidavits to rescind their vote but have not filed any lawsuits to try to force the county to call a new meeting. Since the deadline has passed, the certification still stands. Democratic Vice Chair Jonathan Kinloch said Thursday that board members' votes cannot be changed after the fact. -- Tara Subramaniam and Annie Grayer'Overvotes' in Michigan"One of the reasons why the Republicans did not certify in Wayne County, Michigan, was because the over-vote was so high," Giuliani claimed. He added, "what I'm describing to you is a massive fraud."Facts First: This is false. What Giuliani called an over-vote is often referred to as an imbalance where the number of ballots tabulated does not equal the number of people signed in to vote at a specific polling location. Past elections in Michigan with larger imbalances have been certified without issue, including in 2016 when Trump won the state, according the Michigan Secretary of State. "They certified the vote in 2016 with 80% of Detroit precincts out of balance. And yet today, 42% were out of balance and yet it didn't get certified, so clearly there is no valid point here," Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said. Benson told CNN it's "quite common" for precincts to be out of balance but "it doesn't indicate there's any malfeasance," adding "it's more of a bookkeeping, clerical issue." more...
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