Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani found himself a local lawyer in time to turn himself in to Georgia authorities on Wednesday, two days before the deadline imposed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The once-respected federal prosecutor-turned-Trump lackey arrived at the Fulton County Jail to be photographed, fingerprinted, and booked on a raft of felony charges over his alleged role in Donald Trump’s push to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results. He stands 5’ 11” and tips the scales at an imposing 230 pounds, according to booking records, which list his hair color as “gray or partially gray.”
“If they can do this to me, they can do it to you,” Giuliani disingenuously told reporters outside the jail. (In fact, if you engage in alleged election interference, you may be prosecuted.) Giuliani, who at one point snapped at a journalist for supposedly interrupting him, also claimed he was “honored” to be a defendant in the case, arguing that he was fighting for “our way of life.” Giuliani’s legal team negotiated a $150,000 bond package prior to his surrender on charges including conspiracy to commit forgery, false statements and writings, and violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act—a version of a federal law Giuliani made abundant use of back in the 1980s to go after La Cosa Nostra. Trump election lawyer and unapologetic conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell also surrendered Wednesday at the same jail facility, with bond set at $100,000.
According to reports, Giuliani, who is headed for disbarment in Washington, D.C., sought assistance in finding an attorney licensed to practice in Georgia from onetime NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik, an unindicted co-conspirator who spent four years in federal prison on tax-related charges before being pardoned by Trump during the ex-president’s final days in office.
He is being represented by Atlanta-based Brian Tevis and John Esposito of New York. Before leaving for Atlanta, Giuliani spoke to reporters outside his apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side on Wednesday morning.
Describing himself as “the man who probably put the worst criminals of the 20th century in jail,” Giuliani said Fulton County authorities were “going to degrade themselves by doing a mugshot of me.” “They’re lying,” Giuliani said. “I’m telling the truth.”
Giuliani claimed he was “feeling very, very, good” about being booked on multiple felony charges, noting that he is “the same Rudy Giuliani that took down the Mafia.” “I’m fighting for justice from the first moment I represented Donald Trump, an innocent man, who has now been proven innocent several times,” Giuliani said, misrepresenting the facts from the get-go.
“I don’t know how many times he has to be proven innocent and they have to be proven to be liars, actually enemies of our republic who are destroying rights, sacred rights.” Giuliani, Trump, and 17 others are under indictment in Fulton County for their alleged attempts to undo the 45th president’s loss to now-President Joe Biden. Georgia was a must-win in 2020 for Trump, who fell short in the state by roughly 12,000 votes.
Following Trump’s defeat, Giuliani became one of his loudest supporters, delivering false information in testimony before various state legislatures, taking bad-faith (and uniformly unsuccessful) election challenges to court, and holding mis- and disinformation-packed news conferences to spread Trump’s lies, gaining newfound infamy with a roundly mocked event at Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia. Giuliani continues to deny any wrongdoing, and has denigrated Willis as dishonest and “sloppy.”
Trump is expected to turn himself in on Thursday. He and his lawyers have already agreed to a $200,000 bond package, which includes prohibitions on contacting witnesses or other defendants in the case. Trump will be photographed and fingerprinted just like any other defendant brought in on criminal charges, according to Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat.
Among the other defendants to have surrendered in advance of the Friday deadline are Trump attorney John Eastman ($100,000 bond), bail bondsman and GOP poll-watcher Scott Hall ($10,000), Republican official Cathy Latham ($75,000), former Georgia GOP chairman David Schafer ($75,000), Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro ($100,000), and Trump attorney Ray Smith ($50,000).