MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell said Rudy Giuliani’s drinking habits are reportedly under the microscope in the federal case related to Donald Trump’s attempts to cling to power after losing the 2020 election.
“How drunk does your lawyer have to be before you stop following his advice?” O’Donnell asked on Tuesday night. “That is a question ― a legal question ― that Donald Trump’s criminal defense team will have to answer when he goes on trial.”
Giuliani, a longtime Trump ally and former New York mayor, was Trump’s most visible attorney during that period, and became known for bizarre and erratic behavior.
Now, Rolling Stone is reporting that the office of Special Counsel Jack Smith is looking into allegations that Giuliani was drunk when he gave Trump legal advice, and that Trump knew his attorney had been drinking.
That could potentially undercut arguments that Trump was just relying on the advice of an attorney in his attempts to overturn the election.
Former prosecutor Glenn Kirschner told O’Donnell that “reliance on the advice of counsel” could normally be a viable defense in some cases, but it’s implied that the counsel should be sober.
Trump, Kirschner said, may have a hard time making that argument “with a straight face.”
Giuliani has admitted that he drinks ― especially Scotch ― but claimed he functions “more effectively than 90% of the population.”
See O’Donnell’s full conversation with Kirschner below:
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