Dem
51
GOP
49
A report in The New York Times says that for over a decade, Rudy Giuliani would hang out at the Grand Havana Room, a cigar club in midtown Manhattan, and drink. A lot. Too much. He was often intoxicated. And also in other settings, where that was highly inappropriate, like a 9/11 memorial gathering. Also at dinners in his own apartment, which he is now trying desperately to sell. Andrew Stein, a former New York City Council president who has known Giuliani for decades, said: "It's no secret, nor do I do him any favors if I don't mention that problem, because he has it. It's actually one of the saddest things I can think about in politics." Other people who know Giuliani well have now started to admit there is a problem. In other words, with Giuliani these days, every sentence has three parts: a noun, a verb and blearrggghh.
Federal prosecutors investigating Giuliani's role in trying to overturn the 2020 election are aware of his drinking problem. It could matter if Donald Trump's defense of his actions on Jan. 6 is "my lawyer told me it was all right." Of course, if the lawyer in question was Giuliani, and he was drunk all the time, and Trump, a teetotaler, knew this, it does tend to weaken the defense. Several people have told prosecutors that Giuliani was drunk on Election Night in 2020. Jason Miller, a top Trump aide, told the Jan. 6 committee: "The mayor was definitely intoxicated." Trump himself is well aware of Giuliani's bad habit and has spoken derisively about it.
The fallout from the story has gotten to Giuliani. In his own defense, he said: "If I have an alcohol problem, I should be in the Guinness Book of World Records." He didn't say why. Most shots of scotch consumed in a four-hour stretch or what? He also noted that he put 800 mafiosi in jail and prosecuted Nazis. He noted he was praised for using the RICO law against Wall Street. Of course, all of that was decades ago; now he has been accused of violating Georgia's RICO law.
Giuliani could go with the flow and admit that he is a habitual drunk. Then, in his various defamation suits, he could try to defend himself by saying he was drunk when he made the defamatory comments. It probably wouldn't work, but it might be worth a shot. He doesn't have much else.
Maybe this new tidbit is related to Giuliani's drinking habit, maybe not, but now the last of Giuliani's Georgia lawyers is dropping him as a client. This means Giuliani has to go find a new Georgia lawyer. It is also possible, of course, that his lawyers have deserted him because, like his buddy Donald Trump, he doesn't pay them. Lawyers like to get paid. Drunken, broke clients who don't pay up are not popular. (V)