At this point in time, it is becoming easier to determine who will be indicted for sedition and the attempt to overthrow the government. The words of Eric Herschmann to John Eastman remain the best free advice a range of people should take: “Get a great effing criminal lawyer.” The Department of Justice has its work cut out for them if all the conspirators are to be indicted before the fall political campaigns. Others may only need to be subpoenaed by that time.
High on that list will be the country’s one-time mayor, Rudy Giuliani. It may be hard for younger people to realize that once upon a time not so long ago Giuliani was a true hero and not some inebriated clown peddling criminal nonsense. Still there are lessons to be learned that shed light on his client and his state of mind.
CENTER OF ATTENTION RUDY
Back in the 1980s and 1990s in New York City and through 9/11, Rudy was a center of attention in the Big Apple. He was a legendary prosecutor in the Southern District of New York and a mayor of renown when crime really was bad. Looking back, this time period probably was the high point of his life.
During these years, his path crossed with another figure of perpetual media prominence who eventually would become President and seek to overthrow the government with Giuliani. The prosecuting attorney and career criminal were not friends then but they traveled in the same media circles. I think it is safe to say that no one in the 1980s-1990s predicted these futures for either one of them.
DOWNHILL RUDY
Leaving the center stage is a challenge. Prominent athletes may have trouble retiring. One moment the camera is on you and the next moment you are yesterday’s news. The abrupt change can be traumatic. Call it post-celebrity stress disorder (PCSD).
For Giuliani it was all downhill during the first decade of the new century and millennium. From being a short-lived Senate candidate to a failed Presidential candidate, he soon was a nothingburger. The camera was never on him and nobody cared what he had to say. It was as if he had disappeared.
A similar fate seemed to be in store for his perpetually-bankrupted soul brother. He had gone from being a media figure to being an afterthought if anyone ever thought of him at all. Then when he was on the brink of disappearing forever, he was rescued from oblivion from a totally unexpected source:
How Mark Burnett Resurrected Donald Trump as an Icon of American Success
With “The Apprentice,” the TV producer mythologized Trump—then a floundering D-lister—as the ultimate titan, paving his way to the Presidency. (New Yorker, January 7, 2019)
So whereas Rudy faded from sight, Trump gained enough national notoriety to exploit the opportunity presented by Obama in the 2008 presidential election.
RUDY AND THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY
It was not until a decade later in Ukraine of all places did Giuliani return to the national spotlight. He had been entrusted by the President of the United States to do very important work. He operated almost as an independent Secretary of State and not the actual one he had wanted to be. Mow he was tasked with a supremely important mission. He was determined to find dirt on Hunter Biden, undermine Joe Biden, and pave the way for the re-election of a person he should have prosecuted in the old days. He was important again. He was with the most powerful person in the world.
Rudy Giuliani: ‘You Should Be Happy for Your Country That I Uncovered This’
President Trump’s personal attorney unleashes in a new phone call with The Atlantic while Trump allies turn on him. By Elaina Plott (The Atlantic, September 26, 2019)
Rudy was back where he belonged. He was saving the country.
“It is impossible that the whistle-blower is a hero and I’m not. And I will be the hero! These morons—when this is over, I will be the hero.”
Rudy was going to be hero again just as he had been on 9/11. He was back on center stage. The spotlight would be on him.
RUDY THE INSURRECTIONIST
This same attitude carried over into the insurrection. Throughout the course of the insurrection there is probably no one more consistently ridiculous than Rudy. Séance Sydney, Pillowhead, and General Fifth have been one trick ponies. By contrast, Ridiculous Rudy has been everywhere. Let us count the ways.
1. Legal challenges – He traveled the country in one bogus case after another compiling a near perfect record not only for defeat but for absurdity. It got to the point where he was practically laughed out of the court and only welcomed on Foxhub. His antics resulted in his being sued along with others by Dominion and Smartmatic. He expressed another legal idea destined to mark him as a fool forever: “It’s not my job in a fast-moving case to go out and investigate every piece of evidence that’s given to me.” How about even one? He even had his law license suspended in New York although that not may be due to his insurrection activities. It would seem that there was only one person who believed the nonsense he was peddling and that was enough.
2. State Vote – Another technique deployed by the insurrectionists was to have voter recounts in swing states and/or fraud investigations. In the previous blog, I addressed his efforts in Arizona which led to the extraordinary line “We’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence.” His efforts in Georgia also in the Day 4 testimony included a video showing an extensive diatribe of great impassioned conviction about criminal behavior by the state election workers. His racist-based attacks comparing election workers to drug dealers probably will not help him when he is brought to trial.
His totally bogus claims leading to the disruption of the lives of two civic-minded Americans working to make the election work will not help either. Helping people to vote, especially older people, was an act of great personal satisfaction to Shaye Moss. Her mother Ruby Freeman testified: “There is nowhere [now] I feel safe. The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American. Not to target one.” From standing up to Osama bin-Laden to targeting Ruby Freeman through lies — how much lower could he degenerate?
3. State Insurrection Electors – Rudy also peddled the effort to create insurrection electors, an effort which already is being investigated by the DOJ.
4. January 6 – The full story of what transpired in the Willard War Room has yet to be told. Some of it will be revealed in future hearings by the House Select Committee. Some of it will remain hidden as Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Rudy Giuliani, and Mark Meadows present by phone refuse to testify. In the meantime we have this tidbit courtesy of Cassidy Hutchinson.
As Mr. Giuliani and I were walking to his vehicle that evening, he looked at me and said something to the effect of “Cass, are you excited for the sixth? It’s going to be a great day.” I remember looking at him and saying, “Rudy, can you explain what’s happening on the sixth?” And he responded something to the effect of “we’re going to the Capitol. It’s going to be great. The President’s going to be there. He’s going to look powerful. He’s going to be with the members. He’s going to be with the senators. Talk to the chief about it. Talk to the chief about it. He knows about it.”
Rudy’s going to be the hero again. At the center of the action. The President is going to trump his domination of Lafayette Park. I’ll be walking with Rambo. We are going to seize the moment when weak Mike Pence fails us. It will be like 9/11 all over again.
In Giuliani’s desperate and pathetic need to be the hero again, we gain insight into the mind of Donald Trump. Time was running out on him. Even with his limited grasp of the real world he knew that January 6 was critical. Everything done so far had failed. He knew his Vice President would fail him.
Even though BoneSpur Boy is a weak person who limits himself to being mean, nasty, and insulting and fighting in the professional wrestling arena only when it is rigged, he knew that this time he would have to be the one to take the lead (Suppose He Had Led His People to the Capitol on January 6… January 12, 2022). This was his last chance at remaining President. He was not going to let some car driver or Secret Service agent prevent him from remaining President. This was his chance to go into the arena for real. Oh, to be deprived of his moment of glory and end up in a prison cell with Rudy.
