As he attempts to meet mounting legal fees incurred in large part through his work for Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani will reportedly not get “a nickel” from one billionaire who backed his campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination – or, apparently, much from many other previously big donors.
“I wouldn’t give him a nickel,” the investor Leon Cooperman told CNBC. “I’m very negative on Donald Trump. It’s an American tragedy. [Rudy] was ‘America’s mayor’. He did a great job. And like everybody else who gets involved with Trump, it turns to shit.”
Brian France, a former Nascar chief executive, was slightly more conciliatory. But he told the same outlet his wallet was staying shut: “I was a major supporter of Rudy in 2008 and at other times. I’m not sure what happen[ed] but I miss the old Rudy. I’m wishing him well.”
Donald Trump happened to Rudy.
Giuliani, now 79, was once a crusading US attorney who became New York mayor in 1993 and led the city on 9/11 and after. Capitalising on the resultant “America’s mayor” tag, he ran for the Republican nomination to succeed President George W Bush. Briefly leading the polls, he raised $60m but flamed out when the race got serious.
When Giuliani struggled with drink and depression, his former wife has said, Trump gave him shelter. When Trump himself entered presidential politics, in 2016, Giuliani became a vociferous surrogate. When Trump entered the White House, Giuliani failed to be named secretary of state but did become the president’s aide and attorney.
In that capacity his actions fueled Trump’s first impeachment, over attempts to find dirt on opponents in Ukraine, and he helped drive the hapless attempt to overturn Trump’s defeat by Joe Biden in 2020, which has spawned numerous criminal charges.
Of 91 criminal counts faced by Trump, 17 are related to election subversion. Four were brought by the justice department special counsel Jack Smith. Thirteen were brought by Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton county, Georgia.
Giuliani also faces 13 counts in Georgia, under racketeering and conspiracy statutes. Like Trump he denies wrongdoing. Also like Trump, he faces other challenges too.
Smartmatic, a voting machines company, made Giuliani a target of a $2.7bn defamation suit. This week, Giuliani was ruled liable for defamation against two Georgia elections workers. A former personal assistant, Noelle Dunphy, sued for $10m, alleging sexual assault and harassment. Giuliani has also been investigated by legal authorities.
A lawyer for the former mayor has said in court he is struggling to meet his expenses. On the Upper East Side in New York, his luxury apartment is up for sale.
CNBC found other former supporters to say they would not help Giuliani now. A personal assistant to Ken Langone said the co-founder of Home Depot did not plan to donate to Giuliani’s legal defense fund. A “Wall Street veteran” said he did not want to be named because “he didn’t want to be bothered by Trump or Giuliani”.
Ted Goodman, a Giuliani adviser, told CNBC: “I get that it’s more expedient to say nasty things about the mayor in order to stay in good graces with New York’s so-called ‘high society’ social circles and the Washington cocktail circuit, but I would remind these same people that Rudy Giuliani is the most effective federal prosecutor in American history, he improved the quality of life for more people than any mayor in American history, and he comforted the nation following September 11.
“No one can take away his great accomplishments and contributions to the country.”
Attempting to stave off attempts to take away his freedom, Giuliani is due on 7 September to host a fundraiser at Trump’s Bedminster club in New Jersey. The Republican frontrunner is due to appear, but he is widely reported to have resisted pleas for significant monetary assistance.
CNBC also quoted two anonymous New York Republican operatives. One said: “Rudy should have a statue built in his honor for saving the city. But instead he is a clown figure amongst the donor class and needs to run begging for money to pay for a legal defense in which he tried to overturn an election.”
