Convicted of
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1983 to 1989 — where he became nationally known for prosecuting the heads of New York's five Mafia families under RICO statutes, dismantling the "Pizza Connection" international heroin ring, and bringing cases against Wall Street figures including Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken — before serving two terms as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001, earning widespread public admiration for his response to the September 11 attacks. He became Trump's personal attorney in 2018 and, following the November 2020 election, became the most prominent public face of the campaign to overturn the result.
In that role, Giuliani filed or directed dozens of legal challenges in state and federal courts across Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia, all of which were dismissed or rejected for lack of evidence. He appeared at the now-infamous November 7, 2020 press conference outside Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia and at an RNC headquarters press conference on November 19, 2020, where he publicly alleged a "centralized" nationwide voter fraud conspiracy without supporting evidence. He also appeared before legislative committees in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, and Georgia making false claims of election fraud and urging lawmakers to reject or replace certified electors.
Georgia: In August 2023, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis secured a 41-count RICO indictment against 19 defendants including Trump. Giuliani was charged with 13 counts: violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute, conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, soliciting a public officer to violate their oath, and related offenses. The indictment alleged he pressured Georgia state lawmakers to appoint a false slate of presidential electors, made knowingly false statements about election fraud at public legislative hearings in Georgia, and engaged in similar conduct in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Arizona. He surrendered at Fulton County Jail on August 23, 2023, was processed and released on a $150,000 bond, and pleaded not guilty.
Arizona: In April 2024, an Arizona grand jury indicted 18 Trump allies — including Giuliani — on charges of fraud, forgery, and conspiracy in connection with the fake elector scheme. The indictment alleged Giuliani personally pressured Arizona legislators and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to change the state's certified result, presided over events in Phoenix where he falsely claimed election officials had made no effort to verify the presidential vote, and coordinated the signing of certificates by 11 Trump supporters at Arizona GOP headquarters who falsely claimed to be the state's official presidential electors, despite Joe Biden having won Arizona by 10,457 votes. Giuliani pleaded not guilty in May 2024.
Civil liability: In a separate federal civil proceeding, Giuliani was found liable in December 2023 for defaming Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, whom he had repeatedly and falsely accused — from November 2020 through 2021 — of inserting fraudulent USB drives, stuffing ballot boxes, and manipulating vote totals. A federal jury awarded $148,169,000 in damages: $75 million in punitive damages, approximately $33 million in defamation damages, and $40 million for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2023; the case was dismissed by a judge in 2024 for repeated failure to comply with court orders and disclose income. He was subsequently ordered to surrender his Manhattan apartment, a collectible Mercedes-Benz, and luxury watches. A settlement with Freeman and Moss was reached in January 2025 and the judgment was satisfied in February 2025.
Bar discipline: The New York Court of Appeals permanently disbarred Giuliani in 2024, finding he had repeatedly and knowingly made false statements about the 2020 election in legal proceedings and public forums. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals followed with a reciprocal permanent disbarment.
Original sentence
No criminal sentence was imposed. Giuliani was pardoned by President Trump on November 10, 2025 — before either the Georgia or Arizona criminal cases had proceeded to trial — as part of a sweeping clemency proclamation granting "full, complete, and unconditional" pardons to 77 individuals for "any conduct relating to their efforts to expose voting fraud and vulnerabilities in the 2020 Presidential Election." Because presidential pardons extend only to federal offenses, the pardon had no direct legal effect on the Georgia and Arizona state prosecutions, both of which had in any event stalled significantly by the time it was issued. Others pardoned in the same group included Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, and John Eastman.