October 4, 2023

"On some nights when Mr. Giuliani was overserved, an associate discreetly signaled the rest of the club, tipping back his empty hand in a drinking motion..."

"... out of the former mayor’s line of sight, in case others preferred to keep their distance. Some allies, watching Mr. Giuliani down Scotch before leaving for Fox News interviews, would slip away to find a television, clenching through his rickety defenses of Mr. Trump.... In interviews with friends, associates and former aides, the consensus was that, more than wholly transforming Mr. Giuliani, his drinking had accelerated a change in his existing alchemy, amplifying qualities that had long burbled within him: conspiracism, gullibility, a weakness for grandeur...."


You see where this is going: 
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.'... 
What Flegenheimer and Haberman are strongly suggesting: Trump should not be able to argue that he relied on the advice of his attorney, when that attorney was Giuliani, a notorious, conspicuous drunk.

64 comments:

rehajm said...

Denial of fair representation via intimidation of counsel should be a thing too but here we are…

Kevin said...

Trump should not be able to argue that he relied on the advice of his attorney, when that attorney was Giuliani, a notorious, conspicuous drunk.

The “we must maintain norms” people are constantly creating new norms in their pursuit of Trump.

Dave Begley said...

So Maggie interviewed the waiters. Sure wish she would have investigated the veracity of the Steele dossier with the same vigor.

Rudy - like so many who worked for or with Trump - has been ruined. The total has to be near two dozen. Who works for Trump in a second term?

This scorched earth policy of the Dems is what the communists have always done. Ruined, killed or jailed their opponents.

tim maguire said...

Giuliani was clearly a shell of his former self, but this seems like the kind of argument the prosecution should be estopped from making as it is too speculative, more prejudicial than dispositive. Their claims about Giuliani's drinking habits are irrelevant to the question of whether Trump trusted him as an advisor.

Buckwheathikes said...

The public flaggelation of Rudy Guiliani is yet more evidence that al Queda won on 9-11.

Buckwheathikes said...

The public flaggelation of Rudy Guiliani is yet more evidence that al Queda won on 9-11.

Rusty said...

Any personal foible they can find they'll use against you. Personally. I find drinking and recreational drugs less offensive than pedophilia and grooming of children.

Bob B said...

"On some nights when Letitia James was ranting about Trump, an associate discreetly signaled the rest of the club, making a circling motion of the index finger at the ear ..."
"... out of the AG’s line of sight, in case others preferred to keep their distance. Some allies, watching Ms. James rant before leaving for MSNBC interviews, would slip away to find a television, clenching through her rickety attacks on Mr. Trump.... In interviews with friends, associates and former aides, the consensus was that, more than wholly transforming Ms. James, her delusions had accelerated a change in her existing alchemy, amplifying qualities that had long burbled within her: conspiracism, gullibility, a weakness for grandeur....

Leland said...

We must destroy the basic tenants that protect our liberty in order to jail this guy that’s a threat to Democracy. Liberalism is dead.

Iowan2 said...

Yep. Jack Smith wrote the piece he needed for the trial by media, and Haberman put her by-line on Smiths words.

Haberman was on the list of a DNC email were they talked about all the "journalists" eager to print their propanda.

Jersey Fled said...

Boy! That would sure put a lot of lawyers out of business.

AMDG said...

Giuliani is just another in a long list of people who have been diminished by their association with Donald Trump.

Michael said...

Maggie Halberman. Horse feathers.

Robert Cook said...

"Rudy - like so many who worked for or with Trump - has been ruined. The total has to be near two dozen. Who works for Trump in a second term?

"This scorched earth policy of the Dems is what the communists have always done. Ruined, killed or jailed their opponents."


Trump's former enablers have ruined themselves. Working for a corrupt and dishonest narcissist will do that to one. Of course, to work for Trump, they were likely void of ethics in the first place, or too weak to stand on whatever ethics they might have had, thus surrendering them. Many were likely spoiled goods all along.

I lived through Guiliani's time as mayor in NYC, and he was always a self-serving, posturing scumbag.

rhhardin said...

Jan 6th is the only place that the Constitution reserves for contesting a fraudulent election, since the courts wouldn't hear the case on various grounds, among them that it's political or the complainants have no standing.

Temujin said...

I wonder how many politicians in Washington DC, or...let's say Albany or Lansing, ignore the drinking problems of their friends, or have friends who ignore the drinking problems of the politician?
I wonder how many journalists have friends who ignore their drinking problems?

It's a nation full of people with drinking problems. Drug problems. Funny how even this becomes a failing of Donald Trump, a man who does not drink.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Amazing how leftwing journalists know all these internal details - even how the man was thinking.

yeah - any energy to investigate crook Biden?

wendybar said...

Now do the Drunkard...Pelosi.

Static Ping said...

That would be an incredibly idiotic argument to make. Taking advice from someone who is currently drunk is a lot different than taking advice from someone who suffers from alcoholism. The examples of functional drunks who were still very good at their jobs is numerous and well documented. Heck, effective professionals with hard drug addictions are not exactly uncommon. There is a point when the addiction becomes a major problem to the services rendered, but usually at that point it is pretty obvious that the professional is compromised.

This is such a stupid argument that it indicates that (a) the prosecutors are utterly desperate and/or (b) they have a partisan idiot for a judge.

Brian said...

Wait, the standard is now for a person to have to breathalyze an attorney to see if they are drunk before giving professional advice? Or it's a crime on the recipient of that advice?

What if he repeats the same advice when he's sober? What if another sober attorney repeats the advice? I'm in the clear then?

Bizzaro world.

Iman said...

Maggie Haberman: the Journolist most trusted by Democrats to carry “the water”.

Robert Cook said...

"We must destroy the basic tenants...."

Tenets.

Iman said...

Overwhelming bullshit from the NYT.

narciso said...

meh grant drank, as opposed to teetotaler mcclellan, re lincoln's line,

you expect me to believe any of the people running the ship of state are sober, lol

TreeJoe said...

I've never followed Giuliani closely enough to understand his epic failures during the Trump/2020 election debacle. He is a smart, proven, experienced executive-politician with alot of respect - who threw it all away in short order with no results to show for his efforts.

Alcoholism would explain a lot of it.

But what does that have to do with whether Trump took advice from him? And why is the NYT publishing what is clearly a hit piece during a trial whether the prosecution is openly talking about gagging the defense?

Maynard said...

Working for a corrupt and dishonest narcissist will do that to one

I don't know about that, Cookie.

Obama and Biden's people seem to do really well in life, getting all kinds of jobs and money showered on them.

baghdadbob said...

Drunk-and-incoherent-all-day Rudy somehow manages to pull together a sober and coherent hour on WABC NYC radio every cocktail hour, er, day between 3-4pm, often re-appearing at 5pm for Cats and Cosby (Rita, not Bill). He hides it well. Very Churchillian.

Drago said...

AMDG: "Giuliani is just another in a long list of people who have been diminished by their association with Donald Trump."

AMDG popping in to support the GOe/democratical lawfare cause...because that is what is needed to help remove Trump from the campaign...which is the sole DeSantis (whom AMDG supports) "strategy" to "win" the GOP primary.

Levi Starks said...

So are we arguing that Giuliani is guilty of being a drunk, or that alcohol is in fact a truth serum revealing his true inner evil?

Sheridan said...

If Trump took legal advice from only AOC or Jamaal Bowman, would that be okay with the Journolists and/or the NY Courts? Got to define your terms starting with "competent".

Jake said...

Was Rudy the only one? Were they all drunk?

Original Mike said...

"I lived through Guiliani's time as mayor in NYC, and he was always a self-serving, posturing scumbag."

Yeah, but you were in little danger of getting knifed to death at 4 am by some nutjob. Personally, that's a trade off I would take.

Chuck said...

I’d love to have a dozen bloody marys with Rudy. A beer chaser with each one. That, and a tape recorder.

hombre said...

NYT mediaswine, particularly Haberman, apparently never get tired of covering for the Biden Crime Family by calumniating Trump and associates.

And how, pray tell, do they know what "interests" the prosecutors?

Democrat corruption, collusion and political incest have become so blatant as to be almost humdrum. Consider, for example, the smiley photos of the New York judge's "senior law clerk" and Chuck Schumer.

hombre said...

Cook: "I lived through Guiliani's time as mayor in NYC, and he was always a self-serving, posturing scumbag."

Key words here are "I lived through." The rest is drivel. Many "lived through" that time who otherwise might have been homicide victims.

AMDG said...

Blogger tRump Swab Drago said...
AMDG: "Giuliani is just another in a long list of people who have been diminished by their association with Donald Trump."

AMDG popping in to support the GOe/democratical lawfare cause...because that is what is needed to help remove Trump from the campaign...which is the sole DeSantis (whom AMDG supports) "strategy" to "win" the GOP primary.

10/4/23, 9:17 AM
————————————

Can you name one person who has been enhanced by their association with Donald Trump?

Skeptical Voter said...

It's generally a good idea to ignore Maggie Haberman--but then she's no more of a useless wretch than any other writer for the NYT.

Lucien said...

“Existing alchemy”? Who has an “alchemy”? Are there any editors at the NYT?

Big Mike said...

I don’t know if I would become a drunkard, but if I had busted my ass to turn the city I loved from a filthy, crime-ridden, murder capital into a place where people could raise families, and if I busted my ass to pull the city back together after the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, only to see it revert to bring a Hellhole that lost nearly a half million residents between 2020 snd 2022 thanks to Mike Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio, I do think I’d be entitled to a stiff cocktail or two.

Richard said...

"Blogger Leland said...
We must destroy the basic tenants that protect our liberty in order to jail this guy that’s a threat to Democracy. Liberalism is dead."

“William Roper: “So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!”

Sir Thomas More: “Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?”

William Roper: “Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!”

Sir Thomas More: “Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!”

Kai Akker said...

--- And why is the NYT publishing what is clearly a hit piece during a trial whether the prosecution is openly talking about gagging the defense?

By George, TreeJoe, I think you've got it.

rehajm said...

"I lived through Guiliani's time as mayor in NYC, and he was always a self-serving, posturing scumbag."

I've always suspected you're one of those people that shuffled around the upper west side complaining about 'gentrification'...Now 'anyone' can live here! One data point in favor...

Mason G said...

"I lived through Guiliani's time as mayor in NYC, and he was always a self-serving, posturing scumbag."

And you're currently living through Biden's time as president of the US, and he was always a self-serving, posturing scumbag.

So- did you have a point, or what?

Neighborhood Retail Alliance said...

only to see it revert to bring a Hellhole that lost nearly a half million residents between 2020 snd 2022 thanks to Mike Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio, I do think I’d be entitled to a stiff cocktail or two.

Mike Bloomberg bsically kept the Guiliani public safety agenda in place, and was long gone by 2020 (Left office in 2013). As far as calling Guiliani a scumbag, I'm ok with that-as are the thousands of black New Yorkers who are alive today because of how he cleaned up the city after the Dinkins fiasco. And thew counterpart to the accusation: David Dinkins was a sweetheart personally.

tim maguire said...

Robert Cook said...I lived through Guiliani's time as mayor in NYC, and he was always a self-serving, posturing scumbag.

Me too. And you're right--he was an authoritarian prick who gloried in ruining other people for his own aggrandizement. He was also the greatest thing to happen to New York City in the last 100 years. You'd have to be 20 different kinds of stupid to live through the Giuliani years and not recognize the transformation he worked in that city.

Robert Cook said..."We must destroy the basic tenants...."

Tenets.


Indeed. You have correctly identified what you and yours are destroying.

farmgirl said...

I hope Guiliani sues for defamation of character and every other thing he can sue for.

When will people start realizing that the Left is just going too f/king far?

~ Gordon Pasha said...

How can we rely on Biden, a notorious, conspicuous liar?

Jersey Fled said...

And let’s not forget who Joe Biden said was the smartest guy he ever met.

Drago said...

LLR AMDG, deep in the midst of GOPe/Globalist directed collapsing DeSantis campaign, lashes out again.

LLR AMDG: "Can you name one person who has been enhanced by their association with Donald Trump?"

JD Vance.

Any other stupid questions?

Oops, I take that back. You've got lots of stupid questions.

How about a non-stupid question.

Check in with LLR C****, LLR lonejustice or LLR Rich if you get stuck.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"Their claims about Giuliani's drinking habits are irrelevant to the question of whether Trump trusted him as an advisor."

Yup. My dad was a drunk; it killed him. But I trusted him 100% when he gave me advice on how to install a fuel pump on a small-block Chevy. And damn! Could that guy catch fish! Even when no one else out on the lake could.

effinayright said...

Rudy, the drunk lawyer giving unsound advice?

What ever happened to "In Vino Veritas"?

effinayright said...

AMDG said:

"Can you name one person who has been enhanced by their association with Donald Trump?"

*****************

Can YOU name one person associated with Donald Trump who hasn't been savaged and hunted down by the crazed Democrats and their rump-swabbing press?

See how easy it is to play that stupid game?

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"Can you name one person who has been enhanced by their association with Donald Trump?"

His wife.

Next stupid question? We'll wait.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"So- did you have a point(?)"

Pro Tip: Look under his hat.

Robert Cook said...

"...you're right--he was an authoritarian prick who gloried in ruining other people for his own aggrandizement. 'He was also the greatest thing to happen to New York City in the last 100 years.' You'd have to be 20 different kinds of stupid to live through the Giuliani years and not recognize the transformation he worked in that city."

Giuliani came into office with NYC crime stats already declining, begun during Dinkin's term (just as Trump came into office with the national prosperity on a continuing expansion from the 8-years of Obama's terms in office). This decline in crime was nationwide. The question is, how much of the decline in crime in NYC during Giuliani's terms had to do with with Guiliani, how much with his predecessor, Dinkins, and how much with prevailing and continuing ongoing national trends? Most likely, a mix of each, (just as the continuing growth of US prosperity from 2017-2020 was not singly--or even primarily--the result of anything Trump did, but was a continuation of the already years-long national growth).

Robert Cook said...

"I've always suspected you're one of those people that shuffled around the upper west side complaining about 'gentrification'...Now 'anyone' can live here! One data point in favor..."

Nope, not at all. I was one of those out-of-state transplants myself. I was always well aware how fortunate how I was to have landed where I did when I did such that I could afford to life in NYC at all. Having left, I'll never be able to afford going back.

typingtalker said...

What Flegenheimer and Haberman are strongly suggesting: Trump should not be able to argue that he relied on the advice of his attorney, when that attorney was Giuliani, a notorious, conspicuous drunk.

Attorneys, when drunk, are forbidden to drive an automobile. But they are allowed to advise clients? Hmmm ...

Drago said...

LLR AMDG: "Can you name one person who has been enhanced by their association with Donald Trump?"

I should have added this name to the list of persons enhanced by their association with Donald Trump: Ron DeSantis.

And take it from the horses mouth...




mikee said...

Hillary should take note of where this might be applied beyond Rudy and stop it.

Mason G said...

"Pro Tip: Look under his hat."

I'd rather not...

Mikey NTH said...

Sir Winston Churchill (honorary American) has now entered the chat.

Adolph Hitler, vegetarian teetotaler, has now entered the chat.

chickelit said...

”I was always well aware how fortunate how I was to have landed where I did when I did such that I could afford to life in NYC at all.”

Live not life

/pedantry

Mutaman said...

Original Mike said...



"Yeah, but you were in little danger of getting knifed to death at 4 am by some nutjob. Personally, that's a trade off I would take."

Actually the crime stats have decreased since Rudy ran things. And if you think folks didn't get killed in Bed Sty (at 4AM or at 10AM) when Rudy ran things you are a bigger fool than I have suspected- and its always been a high bar.

Brian said...

But they are allowed to advise clients? Hmmm ...

Is there some state law that says Lawyers have to be sober? Do they do alcohol tests before sending engagement letters?

There are laws against drunk driving.

Nothing in the ABA professional code of ethics mentions a requirement to be a teetotaler to practice law.

In any case, is it a criminal act for the client to receive ineffective counsel? That's what's being alleged here. Trump knew Giuliani was a drunk so his counsel should not be relied upon. And in relying on it he was committing a criminal act. It sounds like the prosecutors have a pretty weak case if they have to rely on this argument.

That's balderdash.