- Rudy Giuliani repeatedly lost his temper on day two of his attorney-misconduct proceedings.
- He accused the disciplinary counsel of asking "sneaky" and unfair questions.
On day two of his attorney-misconduct hearing, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani lost his temper, accused the disciplinary counsel of asking unfair questions, and went on lengthy rants about the 2020 election while the panel's chairman pleaded with him to give straightforward answers.
Giuliani's asides during the virtual hearing were so extensive that at one point, the disciplinary counsel, Hamilton Fox, said he wasn't sure how long it would take him to get through his questions.
"It depends on whether I get answers or the same thing repeated over and over again," Fox said. "If we can get answers, then—"
Giuliani interjected, saying Fox had made an "unfair comment," and adding, "I'm defending myself, Mr. Fox."
"Ok, Mr. Giuliani, just hold off a little bit," the panel's chairman, Robert Bernius, said.
Giuliani's disciplinary proceedings stem from an ethics case brought by the Washington, DC, bar's Office of Disciplinary Counsel. The case focuses on Giuliani's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania, when he was then-President Donald Trump's personal attorney.
The ODC has accused Giuliani of violating Pennsylvania's Rules of Professional Conduct by filing a "frivolous" lawsuit seeking to throw out millions of votes in Pennsylvania and engaging in "conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice."
During Tuesday's proceedings, Giuliani said he believed he was being unfairly targeted.
"I am shocked and offended this is happening to me," he said. The former mayor also repeatedly failed to answer the questions he was asked and veered into long-winded explanations about Pennsylvania's voting procedures and purported voter fraud in other states.
His tangents were so lengthy that Bernius said he couldn't keep track of the line of questioning.
"Mr. Giuliani, I know that you have a lot to say, but honestly, I'd like to finish this hearing by Christmas, and I'm getting concerned that we won't be able to do it," Bernius said. "No seriously, I lost track of the question. If you could just kind of try to limit yourself to answering the question that's posed, and we can move on."
Giuliani said he would try but reiterated that he was attempting to defend himself. He also accused Fox of asking "sneaky" questions to try and corner him.
The former mayor grew more heated as the proceedings continued.
At one point, Fox zeroed in on Giuliani's arguments before US District Judge Matthew Brann in the Trump campaign's lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania's 2020 election results.
Fox noted that when arguing the case, Giuliani had misquoted a presidential commission's finding about absentee voting. Specifically, the 2005 report by the Carter-Baker Commission said that "absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud."
But when Giuliani referenced the report while arguing the Pennsylvania case, he omitted the word "potential," telling Brann that in the report, "they very, very seriously warn us, quote, mail-in balloting is the largest source of voter fraud."
Giuliani became visibly frustrated when Fox pointed out the omission, saying, "You are really — never mind. Never mind. This is really picky."
"You don't think there's a distinction between telling the court that a presidential commission said that mail-in balloting was the largest source of voter fraud, instead of saying that it was the largest potential source of voter fraud?" Fox asked.
"No, I don't think there's a very big difference between the two," Giuliani said. "There is no other source of fraud that is larger, whether you describe it as potential or not."
When Fox tried to move onto the next question, Giuliani could be heard saying to his lawyer, John Leventhal, "For that I'm going to get disciplined?"
"Stop it," Leventhal told Giuliani.
"God almighty," Giuliani said.