Thread: Poor, poor, poor Rudy

• Giuliani Wants Interviews With Codefendants Who Pleaded Guilty In Georgia Cas

Rudy Giuliani filed paperwork Monday afternoon asking a judge to require his codefendants who have pleaded guilty and accepted plea deals to sit for interviews with his legal team—a request that came on the day of the deadline for Giuliani to file motions in the case.

KEY FACTS

Giuliani team’s requested that codefendants Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell and Scott Hall—who have all pleaded guilty in the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, case—be required to sit for an interview with them, saying “the opportunity to interview witnesses prior to trial is the bare minimum that is required by Georgia law.”

Giuliani’s lawyers said in the filing that the interviews are “necessary … in part because their video proffers have raised questions about the content and completeness of their individual statement.”

The plea agreements, however, say that the codefendants are “not permitted to communicate with any other co-defendant concerning the facts or circumstances of this case,” but are required to “cooperate with the Fulton County District Attorney’s office and participate in additional interviews and assist the State in pretrial matters,” per the filing.

The filing came just days after Giuliani’s request to extend the deadline for him to file motions—because his team was “still processing” discovery—was denied.

“Counsel for Defendant Giuliani will be unable to properly investigate the facts of this case or properly advise Defendant Giuliani about the potential evidence in this case unless they are able to interview co-defendants Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell and Scott Hall,” the filing reads.

Another codefendant in the case, Bob Cheeley, also filed Monday afternoon asking for his case to be separated from the other 14 defendants, according to a reporter from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cheeley’s filing argued that the number of defendants could “confuse the jury” with regard to what evidence and laws apply to each defendant.

Former President Donald Trump and 18 others—including Giuliani—were indicted in August 2023 by a grand jury in Georgia for their alleged role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state. Giuliani faces 13 felony counts as part of the indictment, including one violation of the RICO act, three counts of false statements and writings, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer and more; he has pleaded not guilty. Ellis, Chesebro, Powell and Hall all faced similar charges for conspiracy, interfering with equipment or committing or aiding false documents, but accepted deals, pleading guilty in recent months. At least Powell and Ellis had proffer sessions—sessions between prosecutors and the subject of an investigation that are often required as part of a plea deal—and footage leaked of the interviews in November, including one clip in which Ellis said a Trump administration official told her “the boss is not going to leave” the White House after the election, referring to Trump.

Judge Instantly Destroys Rudy Giuliani’s Lawyer’s Argument

• 'You may have a point': Judge destroys Rudy Giuliani's defense in Trump criminal case

Rudy Giuliani's attorney crashed and burned in court Friday, as he tried to file a motion to raise concerns about double jeopardy — and was immediately swatted down as the judge poked a very simple hole in his argument, noted legal analyst Katie Phang.

Giuliani, a close associate of former President Donald Trump who served as a federal prosecutor and the mayor of New York City, is one of several co-defendants charged in the Fulton County, Georgia election racketeering case.

"If I understand the argument, is it simply that other states could prosecute your client for the same predicate act?" asked the judge.

"Yes, Judge," said the attorney. "For instance, our code in Georgia, you can't be sentenced for a RICO, the RICO, and the predicate act, but in Florida you can."

"But how does that become a double jeopardy issue if all the states are separate sovereigns?" asked the judge. "I mean, couldn't you be convicted in every single state, all 50 states, if there was an issue, without any double jeopardy concerns whatsoever?"

"You may have a point, Judge," conceded the attorney. "I mean, there may be something to that."

Law professor Randall Eliason says he has the answer.

"The solution to this," he said Friday, "is to not commit the same crime in multiple jurisdictions."

https://twitter.com/KatiePhang/statu...07559393886658

• A diverse coalition owed money by Rudy Giuliani meets virtually for first bankruptcy hearing

A group of people and businesses who say they are owed money by Rudy Giuliani gathered virtually Friday for the first court hearing since he declared bankruptcy last month after losing a defamation suit to two Georgia election workers.

During a two-hour Zoom hearing, an attorney for Giuliani told a U.S. bankruptcy judge that the former New York City mayor lacks the funds to pay the $148 million he owes the election workers for spreading a conspiracy about their role in the 2020 election. Others with claims against Giuliani should expect to wait as well.

“There’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” the attorney, Gary Fischoff, said, noting that Giuliani was making his living as a radio and podcast host while dealing with a wide range of “financial issues.”

The bankruptcy filing has brought forth a diverse coalition of creditors who previously sued Giuliani for unrelated issues.

In addition to the election workers, creditors include a supermarket employee who was thrown in jail for patting Giuliani’s back, two elections technology companies that he spread conspiracies about, a woman who says he coerced her into sex, several of his former attorneys, the IRS and Hunter Biden. Biden is suing Giuliani, saying he wrongly shared his personal data after obtaining it from the owner of a computer repair shop.

Giuliani’s bankruptcy filing last month came one day after a judge ordered him to immediately pay $148 million to Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss. The Chapter 11 declaration halted the judgment but also prevented Giuliani from challenging the verdict.

During Friday’s hearing, Giuliani’s attorney tried to convince the bankruptcy judge, Sean Lane, to temporarily lift a stay to allow him to appeal the judgment.

Lane agreed to the procedural step, with certain conditions, adding, “There is a legitimate concern here about the expenses and the cost and the delay.”

Some of Giuliani’s creditors have expressed concerns that he is taking advantage of the bankruptcy process to avoid paying his debts.

Noting that Giuliani has a “transactional relationship with the truth,” an attorney for a group of creditors, Abid Qureshi, urged the judge to set guardrails ensuring the litigation did not drag on unnecessarily.

And he hinted at possible conflict among those who say they are owed money by Giuliani, cautioning that the judge’s decision could carry “unintended consequences of a certain creditor jumping the queue.”

Ron Kuby, an attorney representing Daniel Gill, a ShopRite employee who is suing Giuliani for allegedly fabricating an assault against him, said there was “no disharmony among the creditors.”

“It’s an interesting group in its own right: you have a ShopRite worker, election workers, an alleged sex worker,” he added. “This guy stiffed a lot of workers.”

The next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 31.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...92f_story.html

• Rudy Giuliani Creditors Plan Treasure Hunt Through His Finances

Rudolph Giuliani’s creditors are promising a deep dive into the former New York City mayor’s finances to investigate any possible transfers he made in the months leading to his bankruptcy.

Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December to halt debt collections as he tries to modify or appeal a $148 million defamation judgment stemming from his discredited campaign to keep former President Donald Trump in the White House.

Questions remain over any transfers Giuliani may have made 90 days before his bankruptcy, said Philip C. Dublin of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, representing a committee of Giuliani’s unsecured creditors. He made the comments at a bankruptcy court status hearing Wednesday in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Disclosures about any transfers have yet to be filed, he said.

But there’s “no pot of gold at the end of the day” for creditors to find among Giuliani’s assets, his attorney, Heath Berger of Berger Fischoff Shumer Wexler & Goodman LLP, objected at the hearing.

Creditors also have questions about potentially “significant” overstatements and understatements of the value of Giuliani’s assets, Dublin said. The committee plans to ask the court to hire a forensic accounting firm to help it probe Giuliani’s finances, he said. In addition, Giuliani’s debts may not be able to be forgiven through bankruptcy at all, he said.

“Whether there’s a pot of gold here remains to be seen,” Dublin said.

Giuliani, who led efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, filed Chapter 11 after Judge Beryl A. Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia allowed Georgia poll workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, to immediately go after his assets. A jury previously ordered Giuliani to pay them $148 million after he falsely accused them of election fraud. Giuliani has called the DC judgment “unreasonable on its face,” and said it doesn’t reflect the true damages suffered by the workers.

Potential Red Flags

There are also “red flags” when it comes to the financing of one of Giuliani’s third-party litigation defense funds, whose president is Giuliani’s son Andrew Giuliani, Freeman and Moss’s attorney, Rachel C. Strickland of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, told the court.

A collective $70,000 payment to the funds raised concerns as to who made the payments and where the money came from, Strickland said.

“The issue of the source of funds is going to be very ripe,” Strickland said.

In recent financial disclosures, Giuliani has said he has about $10.6 million in assets against almost $153 million in liabilities. His attorney says Giuliani plans to ask for court permission to sell his Manhattan condominium valued at about $5.6 million. His financial disclosures show that the former mayor has been living mostly off of retirement benefits in recent years.

DocumentCloud

• Giuliani wants new trial in election workers defamation case

Giuliani will appeal $148M defamation judgment for slandering election workers while also asking lower court for a new trial

An attorney for Rudy Giuliani has filed a notice that he intends to appeal the $148 million defamation verdict won by former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea’ “Shaye” Moss.

Late Tuesday, Texas-based attorney Joseph Sibley filed a notice of appeal on the docket of the Washington, D.C.-based defamation case the former New York City mayor lost after refusing to testify.

In that case, Giuliani was taken to task for a slanderous campaign against Freeman and Moss in which he falsely proclaimed the pair were engaged in fraud and had “cheated” voters in the 2020 election. Those lies were rebroadcast by former President Donald Trump — and others in his orbit — and shared far and wide. Despite being quickly and thoroughly debunked, the lies were seized upon by adherents of the 45th president, leading to hundreds of death threats — many of them racist — against the mother and daughter, who are Black.

The verdict against Trump’s longtime friend and former lawyer was issued in mid-December 2023, but almost immediately stayed after Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York. Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane lifted the stay on the defamation case and allowed an appeal to be filed.

“We very much appreciate the judge’s expeditious consideration of this matter and look forward to proceeding accordingly,” Giuliani’s political adviser, Ted Goodman, told Law&Crime in an email.

Payment of the damages has been a major sticking point — with the judge who found Giuliani liable once going so far as to call the beleaguered defendant “unwilling and uncooperative” after he refused to pay attorneys fees by citing his dire financial straits. At the same time, the judge noted, Giuliani was able to afford a spokesperson “who accompanied him daily to trial.”

The latest court maneuvers threaten to push payment of the civil damages owed to Freeman and Moss back even further.

Before the notice of appeal was filed, Giuliani’s attorney asked for a judgment as matter of law and a new trial in a consolidated motion — which is essentially asking the judge who oversaw the original case, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell, to initiate new proceedings at the district court level. Meanwhile, Sibley is still initiating the broader appeals process for his client in order to meet certain timelines.

The heart of the motion for new proceedings singles out the amended complaint filed by Freeman and Moss — particularly how the plaintiffs added an allegation of civil conspiracy to their original lawsuit.

“There were no co-conspirators specifically named,” the motion reads. “Later, the Court would enter a default judgment on the Complaint as a discovery sanction against Giuliani and ordered a jury trial on damages. Giuliani objected to the jury trial, but said objection was overruled. Giuliani also contended that Plaintiffs were limited to proving damages only from the pleaded conduct establishing liability based on the overt acts identified in the Complaint. The Court overruled Giuliani’s objection and permitted Plaintiffs to include unpleaded statements and unpleaded alleged conspiratorial conduct as causing Plaintiffs’ damages.”

The motion goes on to argue that the amended complaint in the defamation case “fails to properly allege conspiracy.” The motion also repeats earlier arguments made by Giuliani’s legal team that his slanderous comments were constitutionally protected opinion speech under the First Amendment — which the court has already rejected.

“Because the conduct complained of fails to adequately plead the claims for relief and/or were improperly presented to the jury despite being outside the pleadings, Defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law,” the motion argues.

Additionally, the motion claims the intentional infliction of emotional distress damages were improperly awarded. In the alternative of a wide-ranging judgment or new trial, the motion asks the court to alter or amend the amount of damages owed to Freeman and Moss.

Since being found liable for defamation and ordered to pay the two women, Giuliani has doubled down and repeated the false allegations against Freeman and Moss, prompted the pair to sue him anew.