Steve Schmidt, a co-founder of the Lincoln project, announced on Saturday that the Political Action Committee will take legal action against Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump and Steve Bannon over defamatory remarks about the Capitol riot.
During a Friday interview about Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, Giuliani claims that the Trump supporters’ uprising was organized by a person with ties to the Lincoln project.
“I do not know if I can reveal his name,” Giuliani said. ‘Because we have it from anonymous sources. But he has worked in the past for [Utah Senator Mitt] Romney. ‘
MSNBC host Ali Velshi played part of Giuliani’s appearance on Bannon’s podcast on Saturday morning. “It was crazy nonsense that Rudy Giuliani said, even Steve Bannon was shocked,” he said before asking Schmidt to comment.
Schmidt said he was “delighted” that Giuliani made the remarks and that he intends to sue the lawyer, his client and Bannon for defamation.
Getty
“Well, what’s incredible about it, Ali,” Schmidt said, referring to the track, “is it at the end of it when you cut it off when Bannon goes, ‘you kill me, you kill me,’ because Steve Bannon knows that he also will be sued by us, and he is. ‘
“So Donald Trump, who is Rudy Giuliani’s client, and Rudy Giuliani will act according to his actions. But look, it’s very difficult to sue someone for libel or slander in the United States. But our lawyers tell us that Rudy is very the line is over, so we are excited about this, ‘he explained.
Shortly after Bannon’s podcast aired Friday, Schmidt tweeted, “We’re going to sue Rudy Guiliani for the s ** t. I’m so glad I’m literally choked.
On Saturday afternoon, the Lincoln Project released a letter sent to Giuliani by his legal team entitled “Your False and Defamatory Statements About the Lincoln Project (with accompanying notice to preserve all relevant documents).”
“You betrayed your country when you acted in front of a riotous crowd on January 6, 2021, inviting your client, former President Donald Trump, to seek a distance from the American Capitol. You promoted false conspiracy theories. said the presidency had been ‘stolen’, “reads the letter. “You stated without asking or proving that my client, The Lincoln Project, ‘planned’ the January 6 uprising to hurt Donald Trump.”
Advocates for the Lincoln Project concluded that Giuliani “committed a defamation act” and gave the attorney until Wednesday, Feb. 3, “to withdraw your statement in full and apologize to the Lincoln Project in public.” ‘
It is currently unclear when or how the Lincoln project will take legal action against Bannon and Trump.
Newsweek Giuliani’s representatives and the Lincoln project for comment. This story will be updated with any answer.