The Justice Department’s identification of Rudy Giuliani as an uncharged alleged co-conspirator in the second indictment against former President Donald Trump was among a string of legal headaches Giuliani faced last week, as the far-right lawyer’s legal issues intensified ahead of a possible indictment in Georgia.
Rudy Giuliani, leaves the U.S. District Court on May 19 in Washington, DC.
DOJ Indictment: Giuliani is believed to be “co-conspirator 1” in the indictment charging Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, his attorney has acknowledged, after the document described an “attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that the Defendant's 2020 re-election campaign attorneys would not.”
Though the indictment alleges Giuliani was involved with Trump’s allegedly unlawful conspiracy to overturn the election results, he has not been charged in the investigation—though special counsel Jack Smith noted the DOJ’s investigation is still ongoing, so it’s not ruled out that he could be charged in the future.
Georgia Defamation Case: Giuliani is being sued for defamation by two Georgia election workers who he falsely tied to an unfounded conspiracy theory about voter fraud in 2020, which has led to a protracted legal battle as the election workers have asked the court to sanction Giuliani for not turning over evidence, prompting him to concede in a July court filing that the claims he made were “false.”
Giuliani’s filing prompted an order from the judge last week asking him to clarify why he conceded his claims were false but still won’t forfeit the lawsuit entirely by agreeing he defamed the election workers—as the court filing still opposes the lawsuit overall—describing his statements in the filing as “seemingly incongruous and certainly puzzling.”
Noelle Dunphy: Giuliani is facing a $10 million lawsuit brought by former associate Noelle Dunphy, who accused the attorney of a range of misconduct including sexual assault and harassment, with audio transcripts released last week as part of the case capturing Giuliani allegedly making sexually explicit comments, along with disparaging comments about Jewish men and actor Matt Damon, which included making a homophobic slur.
Dominion and Smartmatic: Giuliani has also been sued by voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic for spreading false election fraud claims involving their machines, and though a court initially dismissed some of the allegations against Giuliani in the Smartmatic case, an appeals court reinstated them in February.
Staten Island Lawsuit: Giuliani was sued in May for false arrest by Daniel Gill, who slapped the attorney on the back and said, “What’s up, scumbag?” at a grocery store, and was charged with third-degree assault after Giuliani claimed Gill hit him.
Gill argues video footage of the incident shows he only “tapped” Giuliani “to get his attention,” and he was “put through the system” at Giuliani’s urging and the attorney conspired with police to “deprive [Gill] of his liberty.”
Disbarment: Giuliani has had his law license suspended in New York and Washington, D.C., due to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and proceedings are ongoing over whether he’ll be fully disbarred—the D.C. disciplinary panel has recommended his disbarment, but Giuliani intends to appeal the decision.
Legal proceedings against Giuliani are still ongoing, and the attorney faces the possibility of paying significant damages in the civil cases against him. It’s still unknown whether Giuliani could be indicted in the DOJ’s probe, and the ex-mayor also faces the prospect of being charged in a separate probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election by the district attorney’s office in Fulton County, Georgia. Giuliani has been informed he’s a target of that criminal investigation, and indictments in the case are expected to come out by the end of the month.
Giuliani has strongly denied all the legal allegations against him. Giuliani spokesperson Ted Goodman has described him as having a “consensual relationship” with Dunphy and denied reports about the allegations in the case as “smears and attacks against a man who has dedicated his life to serving others,” and described the Georgia election workers’ lawsuit in a statement to Forbes as being “part of a larger effort to smear and silence Mayor Giuliani for daring to ask questions, and for challenging the accepted narrative.” Though Giuliani conceded the statements he made in that case were “false,” his attorney Joseph Sibley said in a statement the attorney “does not admit to Plaintiffs’ allegations” and was just trying to move the case forward, arguing his statements were still First Amendment protected speech.
Giuliani has had some legal wins in litigation and investigations against him, with federal prosecutors dropping an investigation in 2022 into whether Giuliani followed foreign lobbying laws without bringing any charges. A federal judge also dismissed two lawsuits against Giuliani that sought to hold him liable for the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol building, ruling Giuliani’s speech before the riot, in which he called for “trial by combat,” was protected speech.
Giuliani, formerly the mayor of New York City, led the Trump campaign’s broadly unsuccessful legal effort to overturn the 2020 election, which included dozens of lawsuits that nearly all failed. The attorney only directly represented the campaign in one case in Pennsylvania, which failed, and also was involved with alleged efforts to pressure state lawmakers and officials to overturn the results. Giuliani is one of a number of lawyers involved with the post-election effort who are now facing consequences for doing so, along with Sidney Powell, John Eastman and Lin Wood. Those lawyers have also faced potential disbarment for their roles in trying to challenge the vote count, and Powell is similarly being sued by Dominion and Smartmatic. Giuliani is one of six co-conspirators listed in the indictment as helping Trump’s scheme, and while no one is identified by name in the court filing, the other conspirators are believed to include Eastman, Powell, DOJ attorney Jeffrey Clark and Kenneth Cheseboro. None of them have yet been charged.
Trump May Push Voter Fraud Claims During A Trial—But Even His Own Lawyers Won’t (Forbes)
Rudy Giuliani Sued For $10 Million On Sexual Assault And Wage Theft Allegations By Former Employee (Forbes)
Judge questions Giuliani over not forfeiting lawsuit after conceding false 2020 election statements (CNN)
"I want to own you," Giuliani says to former employee in audio transcripts filed in New York lawsuit (CBS News)