Rudy Giuliani was a complete clown in federal court, is this all a big grift for him?

Giuliani Speaks to the Media

Yesterday evening, I was following some of the Twitter threads from journalists and lawyers who were on the call for Rudy Giuliani’s appearance in federal court in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Rudy was practically laughed out of court as he basically just did a repeat performance of his now-infamous Four Seasons Total Landscaping rant. He was barely acting as a professional lawyer – it was like the Trump campaign just sent a ranting, drunk Fox News anchor to spout some half-remembered, false legal argument.

President Donald Trump’s campaign on Tuesday sought to add some star power to its flailing legal effort to contest the election results, deploying former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to this small central Pennsylvania city to argue that the state’s election tallies should be thrown out because they’re tainted by fraud.

“The best description of this situation is it’s a widespread, nationwide voter fraud,” Giuliani said during a half-hour-long opening statement at the court session. “This is a part of the reason I’m here, Your Honor, because it is not an isolated case.”

Giuliani argued that the Democratic machine in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as well as other cities, took advantage of the flood of mail-in votes to count ballots that should have been disqualified. “It’s almost like putting them in the candy store,” Giuliani said. He said the effort required excluding Republicans and other observers during the vote-counting process, so they and others were put far away.

“It has been not violated in this case — it’s been trashed. It’s been stepped all over. It’s been disregarded here and in some other places in an eerily similar pattern,” Giuliani added. “The places it happened just happened to be big cities controlled by Democrats.”

When Brann asked technical legal questions about whether “strict scrutiny” or “rational basis” tests applied to the case, Giuliani struggled to answer. At times, his arguments sounded more like legal commentary from a TV talk show than what lawyers typically argue about in court.

“At bottom, you’re asking this court to invalidate more than 6.8 million votes, thereby disenfranchising every single voter in the commonwealth. Can you tell me how this result can possibly be justified?” the judge asked.

Although the suit does ask to block certification of the statewide results, Giuliani focused on the 680,000 votes he said were counted in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh while Republican observers were excluded or were too far away to see the ballots. Despite opening his remarks with sweeping claims of fraud, Giuliani acknowledged later in the session that the complaint in the case didn’t directly allege fraud.

[From Politico]

You can read the full summary of the appearance at Politico. The lawyers following the hearing were absolutely appalled that Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor, was so ignorant of the law and so ignorant of even basic, first-year-law-school legalese. He was sent in as the self-appointed clown for a circus of his own making – it felt more like his whole purpose was to rant and rave about fraud and that’s it.

The NY Times and other outlets are running stories about how in the world the “Trump campaign” ended up with Rudy Giuliani as the face of their failing legal efforts. The answer is… nobody knows. I mean, legitimate lawyers have been backing away from the nutjobs in Trumpland, and clearly, Donald Trump thinks Rudy is doing something. The Times’ sources claim that Rudy is even getting $20,000 a day for this clown performance. Rudy denies that, and says that they’ll work out his fee at the end of the process. I guess that’s what it is for Rudy – just another grift.

Giuliani Speaks to the Media

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

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55 Responses to “Rudy Giuliani was a complete clown in federal court, is this all a big grift for him?”

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  1. lassie says:

    At this point for Rudy, is it dementia or some kind of self aggrandizing psychological condition? Or was he always just a bullshitter and we were so blindsided by 9/11 we never looked that closely?

    • MissMarierose says:

      I think it was the latter. He was a crap mayor who the media gave a pass to because of 9/11. They even papered over the fact that he tried to illegally extend his term as mayor, even though he was term limited out and Michael Bloomberg had been elected to replace him.

      • sarphati says:

        Rudy has always been opportunistic and the events of 9/11 gave new life to his fame hunger. I am looking forward to the New York indictments sure to come. Maybe Cuomo will give him a pardon! Not.

  2. GuestWho says:

    Aside from all the other BS: ” says that they’ll work out his fee at the end of the process”

    He thinks he’s going to get paid by BLOTUS or anyone associated with him – especially as they lose? That’s some funny ish.

    • Swack says:

      I was thinking the same thing. Hope he’s not counting on that pay!

    • SamC says:

      Truly the funniest part, that he actually thinks Trump will pay him. On the other hand, if anyone has the dirt on Trump it’s Giuliani

    • Aimee says:

      He’ll be paid with a box of Trump steaks.

      • Mumzy says:

        @Aimee—too funny! Since Trump seems to reside in opposite world, are the steaks actually meat (of any kind)? And if they are meat, what sort? Landlord-harvested rat?

    • Bread and Circuses says:

      If someone in this admin says they’re working for free, it means they’re enriching themselves another way, usually via something functionally equivalent to corruption.

  3. Insomniac says:

    I mean…so he’s been secretly working for Biden and the Democrats this whole time, right? At this point, that’s the only thing that makes sense to me.

  4. Noodle says:

    I read that his Bar Association membership isn’t in good standing due to… get this… unpaid membership fees. I’m not sure if he’s even allowed to practice law (CB legal eagles, please correct the record!). According to the article I read, he hasn’t presented a case in federal court since 1992. I normally don’t delight in the misfortunes of others, but man, I’m here for this sh!t$how!

    https://lawandcrime.com/2020-election/rudy-giuliani-makes-his-move-asks-judge-to-approve-him-as-trump-campaigns-new-attorney-in-pennsylvania-lawsuit/

  5. josephine says:

    I’m not sure who is more pathetic – Trump thinking that Rudy is capable of lawyering or Rudy thinking that Trump is actually going to pay him.

    Republicans have let this farce go on far too long. They are simply not redeemable, at all. The very fabric of the US is being threatened and Republicans do nothing. And where are those stimulus checks they promised would occur right after the election. I cannot fathom why anyone would vote Republican.

    • Swack says:

      Oh but they will vote republican. Freedumb!

      • Lady2Lazy says:

        @ Swack, if I remember correctly, isn’t the sole reason that Agent Orange ran on the RepubliCANT’S ticket was because he stated that the supporters were easily duped and pretty much dumb?
        Correction, it was a meme that was going around making that claim with his picture.

    • holly hobby says:

      They are too busy ramming in unqualified judges like they did yesterday. Stuff the courts indeed. Georgia has to elect DEM senators so Turtle Bitch can lose power. Miss Lindsey should resign and be investigated. There were witnesses on that phone call

  6. AppleTartin says:

    When your own daughter turns against you publicly. Which you do not acknowledge or think. “Hey I want a relationship with her more than Trump”. And you choose Trump and whatever grifter money he can get out of it. He can rot in hell with his grifter money.

  7. Busyann says:

    If I’m being completely honest, out of everyone in trump world that showed their true colors, Rudy is the most shocking. He was America’s Mayor for pete’s sake. He has tarnished every ounce of good will he earned after 9/11 and to what end? What is he getting out of this to ruin what was a great legacy.

    • GuestWho says:

      He was a total POS before 9/11 – did some really good work immediately after 9/11, and then reverted to his normal POS status.

      • paranormalgirl says:

        Yeah, he was only good right after 9/11. Before that, he was the same old POS he is now.

  8. paranormalgirl says:

    Mu husband (a contractual attorney) said he is not surprised that all this is being laughed out of the courts. The counting is done by both parties and the observers were in the room. If they didn’t get close enough to see what was going on, that was on them. Plus, observers say there WERE allowed to see what they wanted to see. There were a few questionable observers claiming otherwise.

    Giuliani is on the fast track to disbarment. I really hope working for Trump was worth the hits to the careers that a lot of these people will be taking.

    • windyriver says:

      It was in PA, right? where one of the attorneys was forced to admit that, yes, “a non zero number” of GOP observers was, in fact, present during the ballot counting process. One of my favorite quotes so far.

  9. Anna says:

    Flashback to 9/11…..I honestly thought Giuliani was going to be President one day. What happened to him?

    • Courtney B says:

      Biden burned him when Rudy ran in the GOP primary. Said his speeches boiled down to ‘noun, verb and 9/11’. I don’t think Rudy’s ever forgiven or forgotten.

  10. Rapunzel says:

    Tin-foil hat time!
    I’ve been wondering if Rudy was the only choice here. Perhaps nobody else was willing to risk their career being the face of these ridiculous legal challenges.

    I’ve also been wondering if Trump chose the most incompetent lawyer because he really secretly wants to lose. Or because Rudy will be the perfect person to blame when he doesn’t succeed in maintaining power.

    I’ve also wondered if Rudy has something on Trump. And/or Trump has something on Rudy.

    Just some thoughts.

    • Maida says:

      For my money, you have “bingo” with “nobody else was willing to risk their career” making these baseless claims in court.

    • holly hobby says:

      No one wanted to touch that pile of crap after Meidas Touch and everyone else on Sane Twitter dragged Jones Day and Porter for repping this sham. The Meidas ad on Jones Day was particularly effective.

  11. smee says:

    I can only see Simon Barr Sinister when I see him.

  12. SamC says:

    Part of me thinks Giuliani is just trolling Trump with his incompetence because I do think at this point Trump would fire him if he thought he could, the man hates being embarrassed and I’ve lost track of Giuliani flubs at this point. No doubt he has REALLY good dirt that Trump wants to keep buried from his time in the prosecutors office; lots of rumors of Trump and mob ties, which was Giuliani’s claim to fame before 9/11, fiscal shenanigans, etc.

    • Rapunzel says:

      Samc- the Rudy has dirt on Trump theory seems highly possible. Especially when recalling Rudy’s history as a prosecutor.

      • molly says:

        Rudy isn’t nearly lucid enough these days to pull off something like that. If he wasn’t such a terrible person attached to terrible people, I’d feel bad for the mental decline he’s clearly experiencing.

    • Lorri says:

      Giuliani is handling the relatively small stuff in the lawsuits. Sidney Powell is the big gun and she hasn’t presented her evidence yet. We’re in for a wild ride.

      • Sumodo1 says:

        The new Borat movie 🎥 completely obliterated any shred of decency Giuliani may have had. It was a masterful, degrading blow. Thanks, Sacha Baron Cohen!

  13. Shoo fly says:

    Before 9-11, Rudy was a washed up local politician whose time in Gracie Mansion had been marked by great personal scandal (his second wife, the mother of his children, found out that he was divorcing her and having an affair with Judith Nathan from a press conference he gave at City Hall, while she was in Gracie Mansion with his children). The credit he got for lowering crime and “cleaning up” things like Times Square were actually ideas of Bill Brattain – and resulted in the mass incarceration of black and brown men for petty crime – and of the supersonic Wall Street economic explosion of the 90s after deregulation of the stock market. Everyone in New York City knew this. He was repackaged after 9-11 by the media – the same media rescuing Trump and making him look like a successful star for the Apprentice, by the way – and sold to the country, and apparently the country never wants to hear the truth from New Yorkers.

    • GuestWho says:

      Thank you! This “America’s Mayor” nonsense drives me insane. He was a POS then, he’s a POS now. He is what he is.

    • This is why I come to Celebitchy. I remember the affair and a few bits and pieces of events but you summarized that NY era to a coherent whole. I kept thinking “WTH happened to ‘America’s Mayor’????” Thank you.
      y’all are fabulous. Between this group and Todrick Hall (google video: mask, glove, soap, scrub) I’m getting though this. signed, Inpatient RN

  14. MM2 says:

    I remember at the beginning of this sham show, there were reports that Trump wanted to get different lawyers & the lawyers on CNN said “good luck, because none of the few lawyers in this country who could argue this case will believe in it & want to take the job.” So, Trump was stuck with the only unhinged lawyer who would step on his career, his oath & his integrity to be a sycophant for Trump. He didn’t pick Rudy, it’s just all he has now.

  15. Chris says:

    Everyone else here is saying that he was always a messy b*tch. I’ll take their word for it. It’s embarrassing that he’s forgotten even the basics of practicing law. I guess 30 years not practicing and a brain full of worms will do this. My guess is that he excitedly offered to head this quixotic venture and argued to trump he could win. I’m not sure if even trump believes him. The 20,000 price tag is what he said he wanted in exchange for his expert legal involvement. No one said they’d pay that. Either he’s deluded enough to think he will actually get paid or he’s going to run for office and needs the support of trump’s base.

  16. GuestwithCat says:

    I was just reading the Wiki entry about him. His health has not been the greatest. From wiki: “On April 4, 2018, Nathan filed for divorce from Giuliani after 15 years of marriage.[384] According to an interview with New York magazine, “For a variety of reasons that I know as a spouse and a nurse … he has become a different man.”

    So for reasons she knows but we don’t, reasons that sound vaguely medical, he’s gone from POS to extra POS. There are ways people are absolutely awful because they are awful. And then there are ways they are extra awful because their minds are messed up medically. I’m thinking he’s got a perfect storm of things going on making him what we see before us now.

    Someone with the intellect and the savvy to have held the jobs and positions he’s held would probably not ordinarily give in to impulses that make them the public spectacle that destroys their own reputation, relationships and legacy in the dramatic way that this man has done. In short, he’s a hot mess.

    Too bad he’s even now still in a position of sufficient public influence to keep the Magats’ Crazy Train rolling along. His time in the public eye needs to be put down like the rabid raccoon it is and he just needs to retire quietly somewhere to restore what dignity he can to his life. As the “bleeding heart” I am, I hate to see a person debase themselves to such levels. Especially when they still have the power to drag other people down with them.

    If I sound like I’m giving him too much of a pass I’m not. But I dearly want to see mental health care reform take place before my own time on this planet has ended.

    In my own family and among my own friends, I have seen medical conditions and medications destroy mental health and completely transform decent people and their lives for the worse. And current laws and resources aren’t enough to help concerned friends and family help them if they lack the capacity to consent to seek help themselves.

    Rudy Giuliani was never an angel and his personal life was never going to be pretty and his politics were always going to suck due to his own narcissistic tendencies. But I can’t help but wonder if he would have submitted to mental health care, if he would be this extreme and so embarrassingly unprofessional.

  17. Liz version 700 says:

    Seconds ago someone covering today’s hearings just Tweeted that the Judge is explaining to Rudy what a “brief in opposition” is. For non-lawyers that would be like explaining to a chef what a measuring cup is. Oh my God he is mortifying. I am getting second hand attorney embarrassment off of him from several states away.

    • Chris says:

      That’s… not good. He’s not licensed to practice law in PA so he has to be “invited” by the judge, if I have that right? Can he be uninvited if the judge gets annoyed?

      • Liz version 700 says:

        Yes I think you are there at the pleasure of the Court. But the cases are being dismissed so fast there may not even be time. And no other attorney wants to be dragged into this mess.

  18. MerlinsMom1018 says:

    On MSNBC last night they had the attorney who was opposing. He looked and sounded like one of those old time not-here-for-your-bullshit attorneys. He was clear, concise and factual. He also thinks Rudy is an idiot (he didn’t say that, but you could tell) and the closest he came to really trashing Rudy was “I was not going to stand for that”
    I wish I could have heard the whole thing. Sadly I don’t remember attorneys name.
    And now trumpers are asking for a partial recounting 2 counties in Wisconsin, surprise

  19. Valerie says:

    Man, did he ever get the face he deserved.

  20. Amando says:

    Remember how he was hailed a “hero” of sorts after 9/11? Man…how they mighty fall.

  21. HeyJude says:

    It’s not a grift, from what I’ve read national security analysts for years it seems that Donald Trump and Rudy Guliani might have the same ultimate boss. The same ultimate Russian boss.

    Guliani made his career prosecuted the Italian mob, well apparently a lot of the informants for those prosecutions were Russians of dubious employment. And the Russian mob is also the one that apparently took over the gap when the Italians had been dismantled in New York.

    • GuestwithCat says:

      I guess I need to stop being such a bleeding heart. He’s not mentally compromised. He’s morally compromised. What evil!

  22. Fname Lname says:

    Wait, wasn’t he is a big ole dress on SNL professing his love to Trump years ago? Of course he’s clinging on to his last 15 minutes of fame! HE and the Giant Orange one should have never gotten in to politics, what they both wanted was to be social media whores! That instant gratification of likes from sending out a tweet about how lame the dems are, they probably tweet each other while masturbating as they fantasize about tweeting! Who is giving them all this attention and why in the world would anyone throw money in to their pockets? Ewww, we’ve had enough!