Rudy Giuliani has flipped out over Donald Trump’s latest indictment on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election, after he was identified as an unnamed co-conspirator in the charging documents.
In a bizarre rant on right-wing network Newsmax on Tuesday night, the man said to be “co-conspirator 1” in the indictment furiously claimed that special counsel Jack Smith should be indicted for indicting Mr Trump.
“The people lying are the people bringing this… They should be indicted for conspiracy against rights,” he fumed.
The attorney – who is facing calls from an attorney disciplinary committee to be disbarred – went on to accuse Mr Smith of being an “unethical lawyer”.
“So here’s what I say to Jack Smith,” he fumed.
“After the Supreme Court threw out your case, which should have been a disgrace... you should have gone and found another profession because you don’t belong in this one.”
“This one will be your legacy, violating the rights of free speech of an American citizen. Nevermind whether he was president or not.”
He continued: “It could be anybody. It could be a homeless person. You don’t get to violate people’s first amendment rights, Smith. No matter who the hell you are, no matter how sick you are with Trump derangement syndrome.”
In a somewhat unhinged moment, the former New York City mayor then brandished a copy of Mr Trump’s indictment to the camera before slamming it back down on the table.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve acted like an unethical lawyer,” he said. “It should be the last.”
On Tuesday, a grand jury which has spent months hearing evidence in special counsel Mr Smith’s investigation returned a federal indictment against the former president.
Mr Trump was charged with four counts of: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
The indictment – Mr Trump’s second federal indictment and third overall – allegedly conspired with his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election in an attempt to sabotage the vote of the American people.
While the former president is the only person charged, the indictment refers to six co-conspirators who worked with him to try to overturn the election.
The six individuals – four attorneys, one Justice Department official and one political consultant – have not been named in the charging documents because they have not yet been charged with any crimes.
Rudy Giuliani flips out over Trump indictment— (Newsmax)
But based on the details in the indictment and records already known about the events leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot, the identities of five of the six co-conspirators are clear.
The individual known as co-conspirator number one appears to be former Mr Giuliani.
The indictment refers to co-conspirator 1 as an “attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that the Defendant’s 2020 re-election campaign attorneys would not”.
Multiple quotes attributed to co-conspirator 1 match those previously attributed to the former New York City mayor.
On 6 January 2021, co-conspirator 1 left a voicemail for a US senator, according to the indictment.
“We need you, our Republican friends, to try to just slow it down so we can get these legislatures to get more information to you,” he said.
“I know they’re reconvening at 8 tonight, but it … the only strategy we can follow is to object to numerous states and raise issues so that we get ourselves into tomorrow – ideally until the end of tomorrow.”
The quotes match a previously-obtained transcript of a call made by Mr Guiliani to Senator Tommy Tuberville that day.
Mr Giuliani’s attorney Robert Costelllo acknowledged to The New York Times that it “appears that Mayor Giuliani is alleged to be co-conspirator No. 1”.
He went on to denounce the indictment as “election interference” and a violation of the first amendment.
Mr Giuliani is widely-known to have been a key player in Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and last week admitted in a lawsuit settlement that he had made false statements about two Georgia election workers who he falsely accused of rigging votes.
