Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York City, a steadfast supporter of former President Donald Trump and his former legal counsel, is currently pursuing legal action. This legal action stems from remarks made by then-presidential candidate Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential debates, where he sought to criticize Trump by addressing Giuliani.
On October 4th, Giuliani initiated a defamation lawsuit against Biden in New Hampshire. This legal action centers on allegations of defamation that arose from a presidential debate held in Nashville, Tennessee, in October 2020. The initial statement Giuliani contested was when Biden mentioned Giuliani’s trip to Ukraine in an attempt to uncover damaging information about the Democratic Party. Biden accused Trump of attempting to exploit information that he believed to be false, citing his national security advisor’s assertion that Giuliani was being manipulated as a pawn by Russia.
The second statement that the former mayor is pursuing legal action over pertains to Biden’s son. In the course of the debate, when confronted with allegations regarding his son, Hunter Biden, after Giuliani purportedly acquired his computer hard drive and made it public, Biden responded by referencing the opinions of 50 former national intelligence experts.
These experts asserted that the laptop’s contents were part of Russian disinformation, and Biden contended that only the 45th President and Giuliani believed otherwise. Giuliani alleges that Biden was aware that his remarks would tarnish his credibility and cast him in a negative light. He accuses the 46th president of portraying him as dishonest in the eyes of the American public.
In order to establish a case of defamation, Giuliani will need to demonstrate that Biden acted with deliberate malice when he uttered those statements. Specifically, the former mayor must provide evidence that the current president was aware that his remarks were untrue and that he intended to harm Giuliani’s reputation. New Hampshire was chosen as the jurisdiction for the lawsuit because the state offers a three-year window for filing defamation suits and allows individuals to file such suits even if the alleged incident occurred elsewhere. While Giuliani has not specified the exact amount he is seeking in damages, he has indicated that it is a substantial sum, potentially in the millions or even billions of dollars.
