Why DOJ prosecutors are taking a close look at Giuliani’s 'heavy' drinking: report

Rudy Giuliani was once a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York. In 2023, the former New York City mayor is among the co-defendants in Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis' criminal case against former President Donald Trump.

Willis and special counsel Jack Smith are both prosecuting cases involving Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results — Willis for the State of Georgia, Smith at the federal level for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Giuliani has not been indicted in Smith's prosecution, only Willis'. But according to the New York Times, court documents list him as "Co-Conspirator 1" in the federal case.

In a report published on October 4, Times reporters Matt Flegenheimer and Maggie Haberman explain why Giuliani's heavy drinking interests the DOJ.

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"Now, prosecutors in the federal election case against Mr. Trump have shown an interest in the drinking habits of Mr. Giuliani — and whether the former president ignored what his aides described as the plain inebriation of the former mayor referred to in court documents as 'Co-Conspirator 1,'" the journalists explain. "Their entwined legal peril has turned a matter long whispered about by former (New York) City Hall aides, White House advisers and political socialites into an investigative subplot in an unprecedented case."

Flegenheimer and Haberman add, "The office of the special counsel, Jack Smith, has questioned witnesses about Mr. Giuliani's alcohol consumption as he was advising Mr. Trump, including on election night, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Smith's investigators have also asked about Mr. Trump's level of awareness of his lawyer's drinking as they worked to overturn the election and prevent Joseph R. Biden Jr. from being certified as the 2020 winner at almost any cost."

Giuliani, according to Flegenheimer and Haberman, was known for his heavy drinking long before the 2020 election.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, a liberal MSNBC host and longtime Giuliani critic, told the Times that at a Manhattan cigar club, "People would walk by after he started drinking a lot and act like he wasn't there."

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Flegenheimer and Haberman report, "Mr. Sharpton said he did indulge in a running gag: He and others who opposed Mr. Trump sometimes playfully encouraged a server to double Mr. Giuliani's liquor orders before he went on Fox."

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Read The New York Times' full report at this link (subscription required).