Hunter Biden sued Giuliani on Tuesday—as the attorney already faces criminal charges and a slew of other lawsuits.
Topline
President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden sued attorney Rudy Giuliani and his former lawyer in federal court Tuesday, the latest in a slew of legal troubles the former New York City mayor is facing, including criminal charges in Georgia.Key Facts
Hunter Biden: Biden sued Giuliani, his limited liability companies and former lawyer Robert Costello on Tuesday, accusing the former mayor and his attorney of tampering with Biden’s digital data recovered from his laptop, after conservatives—including Giuliani—used the laptop to push often-unproven allegations of wrongdoing by President Joe Biden.
Georgia Indictment: Giuliani was indicted on 13 felony counts in Fulton County, Georgia, for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election as former President Donald Trump’s attorney, as part of a broader racketeering case against 19 defendants in total, including the former president (he has pleaded not guilty to the charges).
Georgia Defamation Case: Giuliani is being sued for defamation by two Georgia election workers who he falsely tied to an unfounded conspiracy theory about voter fraud in 2020, which has led to a protracted legal battle as the election workers asked the court to sanction Giuliani and rule in their favor for not turning over evidence, prompting him to concede in a July court filing that the claims he made were “false.”
The judge found Giuliani liable for defamation in August as a result of him not turning over evidence and ordered additional sanctions against him—on top of $89,000 he had already been ordered to pay—though the case will still go to trial to determine damages, and Giuliani could still face even more sanctions in the case, after the plaintiffs told the court last week he still hasn’t made the payments he’s been ordered to make.
DOJ Indictment: Giuliani is believed to be “co-conspirator 1” in a separate federal indictment charging Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, his attorney has acknowledged, after the document described an “attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that the Defendant’s 2020 re-election campaign attorneys would not.”
Though the indictment alleges Giuliani was involved with Trump’s allegedly unlawful conspiracy to overturn the election results, he has not been charged in the investigation—though special counsel Jack Smith noted the DOJ’s investigation is still ongoing, so it’s not ruled out that he could be charged in the future.
Noelle Dunphy: Giuliani is facing a $10 million lawsuit brought by former associate Noelle Dunphy, who accused the attorney of a range of misconduct including sexual assault and harassment, with audio transcripts released last week as part of the case capturing Giuliani allegedly making sexually explicit comments, along with disparaging comments about Jewish men and actor Matt Damon, which included making a homophobic slur.
