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- Rudy Giuliani told ABC News he would not be able to represent President Donald Trump in Trump’s second impeachment trial because he was a witness in the case.
- Giuliani appeared with Trump at the Jan.6 “Save America” rally where Trump is accused of inciting an insurgency – and where Giuliani called for a “trial by fight”.
- It was widely expected that Giuliani, who has been the lead advocate for the president’s various challenges for the 2020 election, will lead the Trump impeachment legal team.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
Rudy Giuliani now says he will not be part of President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team.
Calling himself a “witness,” the president’s personal counsel said ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl that he couldn’t defend Trump against the charge of inciting an insurgency because he attended – and spoke – at the event at the center of the allegation.
Giuliani appeared at Trump’s “Save America” rally on Jan.6 near the White House, where the lawyer told the crowd it was time for a “trial by fight.” The rally’s aggressive rhetoric comes under scrutiny after many attendees marched straight to Capitol Hill in what became a riot that left five dead.
“If we are wrong, we will be ridiculed,” Giuliani said. “But if we’re right, a lot of them will go to jail. So let’s go to trial by combat.” (He later said he was just referring to “Game of Thrones.”)
The New York State Bar Association has launched a formal investigation into whether Giuliani should be struck off for his comments at the rally.
Two sources close to the White House had previously told Reuters that Giuliani was on the shortlist to represent Trump in the president’s second impeachment trial.
The former New York City mayor led the president’s challenges over the certification of electoral votes in the 2020 election.
Giuliani is one of the few constants in the president’s life, although last week the Washington Post reported that Trump had asked his aides not to pay Giuliani’s legal fees. The president was reportedly outraged by Giuliani’s $ 20,000 a day charges and stopped responding to his appeals.
Former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz was also reportedly one of Trump’s top picks for his impeachment defense team. He told the Boston Herald, however, that he would defend Trump in the “court of public opinion” but that he would not be on his legal team.
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