Rudy Giuliani’s former lawyer sued him Monday, alleging that the former New York City mayor has paid only a fraction of the nearly $1.6 million in legal fees he racked up from investigations into his efforts to keep Donald Trump in the White House.
Robert Costello and his law firm, Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, say Giuliani has paid them only $214,000 and still has a bill of $1.36 million. Giuliani’s last payment, according to the lawsuit, was $10,000 on Sept. 14, about a week after Trump hosted a $100,000-a-plate fundraiser for Giuliani at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club.
Costello and the firm say Giuliani, once celebrated as “America’s mayor” for his leadership after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, violated his retainer contract by failing to pay bills in full and on time. . The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan state court, seeks full payment of Giuliani’s unpaid bills, as well as the costs and fees of his efforts to get him to pay.
“I cannot express how hurt I am personally by what Bob Costello has done,” Giuliani said Monday in a statement provided by his spokesman. “It’s a real shame when lawyers do things like this, and all I’ll say is that their bill far exceeds any fee that’s even close to legitimate.”
Law firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP said Rudy Giuliani paid them only $214,000 and still has a $1.36 million account.
Monday’s lawsuit is the latest sign of Giuliani’s growing financial strain, exacerbated by costly investigations, lawsuits, fines, sanctions and damages related to his work helping Trump try to overturn the 2020 election.
Giuliani, Trump and 17 others were indicted last month in Georgia, accused by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of conspiring to subvert Joe Biden’s election victory.
Giuliani has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of acting as Trump’s main accomplice.
Rudy Giuliani was indicted last month in Georgia, accused by the Fulton County prosecutor of conspiring to subvert Joe Biden’s election victory.
Costello, a partner at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, was Giuliani’s attorney from November 2019 to July 2023.
He represented Giuliani in matters ranging from an investigation into his business dealings in Ukraine, which resulted in an FBI raid on his home and office in April 2021, to state and federal investigations into his work following Trump’s 2020 election loss.
Costello and his firm said in their lawsuit that they also helped represent Giuliani in several civil lawsuits filed against him and in disciplinary proceedings that led to the suspension of his law licenses in Washington, D.C. and New York.
Giuliani could be forced to receive a huge financial penalty after a judge found him liable last month in a defamation lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers who say he falsely accused them of fraud. The judge has already ordered Giuliani and his companies to pay more than $130,000 in legal fees to the women.
Giuliani’s son, Andrew, said last week that the Bedminster fundraiser was expected to raise more than $1 million for Giuliani’s legal bills and that Trump had committed to hosting a second event at his Mar-club. a-Lake in Palm Beach, Florida, later in the fall or early winter.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn