'Double standard justice system, I might as well be in Iran' - Giuliani suspended from law practice

Record ID: 1623116

  • Title: 'Double standard justice system, I might as well be in Iran' - Giuliani suspended from law practice
  • Date: 24th June 2021
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JUNE 24, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY IN MANHATTAN AND NEW YORK CITY MAYOR, RUDY GIULIANI, SAYING: "She was taught how to cheat by the Democratic Party in Detroit. She's a 60-year-old woman and it bothered her conscience so much she went to a priest and that's when she came forward and said, 'They're teaching people how to cheat in Detroit, and they're actually filling out ballots for Biden for them.' I have videotape of 20-30,000 votes being counted illegally. Enough to change the election in another state. I have 30 witnesses that would testify to being excluded from looking at ballots in Pennsylvania, which is in violation of the law in Pennsylvania. Before you can say I was acting improperly, you've got to listen to these witnesses. What am I supposed to do as a lawyer? I'm supposed to say they're all lying?" REPORTER ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "So you're saying they did this only based on things that you said that were based on what other people said? They said you lied about a lot of things... " RUDY GIULIANI: "How can they say I lied if I haven't had a hearing? Tell me what they're basing it on. They haven't had a hearing. They haven't questioned me. They haven't questioned a witness. They're basing it on The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC." REPORTER ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "If you had a chance to testify, what would you have said?" RUDY GIULIANI: "What I'd do is come into court and I'd wheel in about 2,000 documents and say, 'OK, let me call my 40 witnesses.' Now let's see if I'm lying. Let's see if I'm lying about the two people who saw ballots come in in the middle of the night in Michigan, about 100,000, turned out almost every one of them was for Biden. Or how about in Pennsylvania when they counted 500,000 votes, 99.9% for Biden and about four votes for Trump." REPORTER ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "You still believe the election was a fraud?" RUDY GIULIANI: "What I'm telling you is let's get beyond that. If you want to say, 'I said something, you're responsible,' you've got to give me a chance to defend myself. I can more than defend myself. I can show that everything I said was based on a witness. They have never bothered to check that. All they did was take the word of hearsay evidence from newspapers. Courts are not supposed to decide based on newspapers unless they're Democrats in a Democratic city in which they are suffering from a real illness right now. I mean, it's only Trump lawyers who have their offices raided. It's only Trump lawyers who get penalized without anybody hearing their side of the case." REPORTER ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "You've lived your life as a lawyer, as a prosecutor, how do you feel personally now?" RUDY GIULIANI: "I sure have. I feel personally worried for the country. I've been a lawyer for 50 years. I've never had a complaint. I've never had a problem. I believe that the real problem here is somebody's got to fix this double standard justice system, which is not America anymore. I mean, I might as well be in Iran or East Germany before the change. This is a one-sided decision not based on evidence, based on newspapers, they haven't called a single witness. I can call 100 witnesses to support what I'm saying and I'm ready to do it. I practiced law for 50 years and put some of the most dangerous people in the world in jail. And I've been in some of the most difficult situations. My life has been threatened more often than I could possibly tell you. If they think I'm going to violate the law after having almost been killed by the Mafia, the FARC, the Islamic terrorists, they're out of their minds. They're a bunch of prejudiced Democrats who credit newspapers instead of witnesses. That's not a judge." REPORTER ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "What do you do now, having lost your license?" RUDY GIULIANI: "I fight back. That's what I do." REPORTER ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "How do you do that, Rudy?" RUDY GIULIANI: "I go to court and I prove what I'm telling you in court. There are appellate courts. This isn't yet a dictatorship, completely. It's getting there. I wish I was in a different state. I wish I was in a state that wasn't controlled by one party. I wish I was in a city that wasn't controlled by one party. I saw what they did to the judiciary in Philadelphia, where they own it. But we can eventually get to the Supreme Court if we have to. What they did should be a problem for them. They should be investigated." REPORTER ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "And you're also under investigation and prosecutors... " RUDY GIULIANI: "I'm under investigation for anything they can find. This is an investigation in search of a crime. I don't know. They could look at your whole life. They don't even know what they're investigating. They keep changing. 'Let's see if we can find out if Giuliani did something wrong. Gee, maybe he didn't pay a parking ticket 20 years ago, or maybe he made a mistake on his tax returns 12 years ago.' They don't even have an allegation that I committed a crime. They are searching to try and do that. That's not American, that's what they do in dictatorships. You go after a person and you try to make a case on them. In America, here's the way we do it, and I did it better than anybody, there's an allegation of a crime first, and then you investigate that allegation of a crime. That is what protects us against government persecution." REPORTER ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "Are you still in touch with Mr. Trump? And if so, when was the last time you spoke?" RUDY GIULIANI: "I don't discuss my conversations with my clients. In fact, what they did several months ago is a blatant violation of attorney-client privilege." REPORTER ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "You're referring to the raid on your home and office?" RUDY GIULIANI: "Yeah, I mean, have you ever heard of any other lawyers' offices being raided except Donald Trump's lawyers' offices? And by the way, I have other clients whose rights they trampled on. Thank you." FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY IN MANHATTAN AND NEW YORK CITY MAYOR, RUDY GIULIANI, HEADING INTO APARTMENT BUILDING GIULIANI WALKING FROM BUILDING, FOLLOWED BY PHOTOGRAPHERS, AND DRIVING OFF IN SUV
  • Embargoed: 8th July 2021 18:37
  • Keywords: Giuliani Trump election crime law law license suspended
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA001EIRE2PZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Rudy Giuliani's New York law license was suspended on Thursday (June 24), after a state appeals court found he had lied in arguing that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from his client, former U.S. President Donald Trump.
    Giuliani, 77, a former U.S. Attorney in Manhattan and New York City mayor, was punished for making "demonstrably false and misleading" statements that widespread voter fraud undermined the election, which Democrat Joe Biden won.
    Citing the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the Appellate Division said Giuliani's eagerness to trumpet false claims "immediately threatens the public interest" and could erode public confidence in the election process, a hallmark of American democracy, as well as the legal profession.
    "This country is being torn apart by continued attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election and of our current president, Joseph R. Biden," the court said.
    "Where, as here, the false statements are being made by (Giuliani), acting with the authority of being an attorney, and using his large megaphone, the harm is magnified."
    Speaking to reporters outside his home on Manhattan's Upper East Side, a combative Giuliani called the suspension "a one-sided decision not based on evidence. Somebody's got to fix this double standard justice system, which is not America anymore. I might as well be in Iran."
    The Republican also blamed Democrats for his growing legal troubles, including over his dealings in Ukraine, and he said dozens of witnesses could back up his election fraud claims.
    "I fight back. That's what I do," Giuliani said. "I go to court and I prove what I'm telling you in court. There are appellate courts. This isn't yet a dictatorship."
    Trump has repeatedly made the false claim that he defeated Biden.
    In a statement, Trump expressed disbelief that Giuliani could lose his law license for "fighting what has already been proven to be a Fraudulent Election."
    The appeals court said Giuliani's temporary suspension could become permanent after a hearing by the attorney grievance committee that recommended it.
    Giuliani's other legal problems include a $1.3 billion lawsuit where Dominion Voting Systems accused him of defamation for claiming its machines helped flip votes to Biden from Trump.
    Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are separately examining Giuliani's dealings in Ukraine, including whether he violated lobbying laws while working as Trump's lawyer.
    Eighteen devices, including cellphones and computers were seized in April 28 raids of Giuliani's home and office for the Ukraine probe. Giuliani has denied wrongdoing.
    The appeals court said Giuliani made numerous false statements about voting in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania, including over the counting of absentee ballots.
    It highlighted a Pennsylvania court hearing on Nov. 17 where Giuliani alleged widespread voter fraud, though his formal written complaint on Trump's behalf made no mention of it.
    The court also criticized Giuliani's unsubstantiated claims of voting by dead people, including the boxing heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, who died in 2011.
    "There is evidence of continuing misconduct, the underlying offense is incredibly serious, and the uncontroverted misconduct in itself will likely result in substantial permanent sanctions," the court said.
    Though the court rejected Giuliani's claim that the grievance committee violated his free speech rights, the suspension does not muzzle his ability to speak publicly.
    That contrasts with Twitter's permanent ban and Facebook's two-year suspension of Trump from their respective platforms.
    Giuliani received his law license in 1969, and as New York City mayor won wide praise for his response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
    He began representing Trump in April 2018 as federal Special Counsel Robert Mueller was probing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
    (Production: Andrew Hofstetter, Jonathan Stempel, Roselle Chen)
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