Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service
- Before getting indicted, Rudy Giuliani hopped onto a livestream to rant about the case.
- "I know this case backwards and forwards. They're not crimes," Giuliani said of the indictment.
- Giuliani was one of 19 defendants charged in a sprawling investigation in Fulton County, Georgia.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani vigorously insisted during his Monday livestream that the indictment against him doesn't contain any crimes.
"If there is an indictment later tonight, I can assure you it will contain no crimes. I know this case backwards and forwards. They're not crimes," Giuliani said in the latest episode of his show, "America's Mayor Live."
Giuliani was broadcasting from New York before he was charged as one of the 19 defendants — including former President Donald Trump — who stand accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
The Georgia case is Trump's fifth indictment, and the fourth criminal case the former president's been charged in.
The indictment also brought charges against 18 defendants other than Trump — including Giuliani, lawyer and known conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell, and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Giuliani said during his livestream that Trump's indictments are politically motivated and an attempt to stymie his presidential bid.
"How many times exactly do you indict a man? For essentially the same thing. Complaining about an election," Giuliani claimed on his show.
"The only reason you indict him four times is so you can put him on trial four times, and you can prevent him from running for president," he said.
Giuliani admitted, however, that he wasn't feeling great about getting charged either.
"As you see, I'm very nervous and sweating and upset, whether I'm going to be indicted. It does trouble me greatly because I value my reputation beyond anything," Giuliani said midway through his show.
"I find that what they've done here is reprehensible. And I feel it's reprehensible with regard to me, my family, my career, and what I've done in my life," he continued.
Giuliani later released a statement on Tuesday, calling the latest indictment "an affront to American Democracy" and that it would result in "permanent, irrevocable harm to our justice system."
There is some irony in Giuliani being charged with racketeering. Giuliani pioneered the use of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization statute when he was a US attorney, and essentially made a career out of using RICO to go after the mob.
The RICO charge is also a particularly serious one. Like Trump, if Giuliani were to be convicted on such a charge, he'll have to serve five years before he can be pardoned.
A representative for Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.