Rudy Giuliani’s legal 'humiliations' threaten his knighthood in the UK: report

On February 13, 2002 — five months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks — then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani visited Buckingham Palace in London and was awarded an honorary knighthood.

Giuliani, who often quoted the late U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, had a much different image in those days. Back then, Giuliani had a reputation for being a moderate conservative who had no problem working with non-Republicans in an overwhelmingly Democratic city.

But that was long before Giuliani embraced the MAGA movement, went far-right and was buried in legal problems.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

In the Daily Beast, journalist Dan Ladden-Hall reports that Giuliani is now in danger of losing his knighthood.

"His latest public disgrace came this month, when a jury ordered him to pay $148 million to a pair of former election workers whom Giuliani defamed with lies of election fraud," Ladden-Hall explains in an article published on Christmas Eve. "But that's just one of many humiliations in recent years. The prosecutor who was once the scourge of the mob was more recently having his own mugshot taken as he was booked on racketeering charges."

Ladden-Hall notes that in the U.K., honorary knighthood —that is, knighthood for someone who isn't a U.K. citizen — is hardly ever taken away. But Giuliani's legal problems are so embarrassing that in his case, it's a possibility.

A British official, interviewed on condition of anonymity, was asked if Giuliani's honorary knighthood should be taken away if he is convicted in Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney's criminal election interference/RICO case. And the person responded, "Yes, I do, but I don't think it would follow automatically."

READ MORE:Why Giuliani's financial downfall is an ominous sign for another Trump ally: analysis

Toby Harper, a University of Arizona professor who has written about the British honors system, told the Beast, " It's not simply enough that Giuliani be convicted of a crime, it's also that there needs to be political will to get the forfeiture process started…. But Giuliani's reputation — and maybe some of the politics around that — has soured a lot."

READ MORE:'Self-sabotage': Attorney says Giuliani’s 'bad judgment' is a 'headache' for defense lawyers

The Daily Beast's full article is available at this link (subscription required).