Rudy Giuliani sued by ex-lawyer Robert Costello for alleged unpaid fees
Costello – a veteran New York City attorney – said he represented Giuliani in a series of cases between November 2019 and July 2023, including those related to President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn his defeat in the presidential race of 2020. Costello’s trial represents another blow for Giuliani, who faces charges in Georgia for illegally conspiring to overturn the results of the presidential election in that state.
“I cannot express how personally hurt I am by what Bob Costello did,” Giuliani said in a statement released Monday by his spokesperson, according to the Associated Press. “It’s a shame when lawyers do things like that, and all I’ll say is that their bill far exceeds anything approaching a legitimate fee.”
The filing represents the latest in a series of growing legal and financial challenges for Giuliani, who served as Trump’s lawyer for years. Earlier this month, Trump held a $100,000-per-person fundraiser to help Giuliani cover legal costs, the Associated Press reported, with Guiliani’s son saying the event was expected to raise more than one million dollars.
According to the lawsuit filed Monday, Costello represented Giuliani during special prosecutor Jack Smith’s criminal investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, as well as in the criminal case in Georgia, where Giuliani visited last month on 13 charges. .
Costello also represented Giuliani in a House select committee’s investigation into the insurrection, as well as in more than 10 civil cases, the filing says, in addition to disciplinary proceedings in the District of Columbia and the First Department from New York, where Giuliani could lose. its legal license.
Giuliani, who rose to global prominence as New York’s mayor in the aftermath of 9/11, found himself entangled in a web of legal proceedings stemming from his role in trying to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat.
In August, he visited Georgia on charges including conspiring to make false statements, file false documents and commit forgery. He and Trump face 13 counts, more than any of the other 17 individuals charged in the case.
The same month, a Georgia judge found Giuliani liable for defamation of two election workers, who he said had falsified the election results. He has already been ordered to pay approximately $132,000 for failing to provide relevant information and still faces trial in federal court in Washington to determine how much damages he owes.
washingtonpost
