- Rudy Giuliani told ABC News that he would not be able to represent President Donald Trump during Trump’s second indictment because he was a witness in the case.
- Giuliani appeared with Trump during the “Save America” march on January 6, where Trump is accused of inciting an uprising – and where Giuliani called for a “trial by a fight”.
- It was widely expected that Giuliani, who served as chief executive on the president’s various challenges ahead of the 2020 election, would head Trump’s legal team for indictment.
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Rudy Giuliani now says he will not be part of President Donald Trump’s defense team.
The president’s personal lawyer called himself a ‘witness’ ABC News’ White House Chief Correspondent Jonathan Karl that he can not defend Trump against the charge of inciting an uprising because he attended the event in the middle of the allegation – and spoke to it.
Giuliani appeared at Trump’s ‘Save America’ rally near the White House on January 6, where the lawyer told the crowd that it was time for “trial by fight”. The aggressive rhetoric during the protest is scrutinized after many of the participants marched straight to the Capitol in a riot that led to five deaths.
“If we are wrong, we will become fools,” Giuliani said. “But if we’re right, a lot of them will go to jail. So let’s try a fight.” (He later said he was simply referring to ‘Game of Thrones’.)
The New York State Bar Association has launched a formal inquiry into whether Giuliani should be evicted over his comments during the protest.
Two sources close to the White House told Reuters earlier that Giuliani was shortlisted to represent Trump during the president’s second indictment.
The former mayor of New York has led the president’s challenges to the certification of voting votes in the 2020 election.
Giuliani is one of the few constants in the president’s life, although The Washington Post reported last week that Trump instructed his assistants not to pay Giuliani’s legal costs. The president is said to be furious about Giuliani’s reported fees of $ 20,000 a day and has stopped taking his calls.
Former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz is also one of Trump’s top picks for his defense team. However, he told The Boston Herald that he would defend Trump in the ‘court of public opinion’ but not be part of his legal team.