Topline
Rudy Guiliani has hired two attorneys who defended disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein to represent him in court, according to new court filings, after federal investigators raided his apartment in April as part of an ongoing probe into the longtime Trump attorney’s ties to Ukraine.
Harvey Weinstein and Rudolph Giuliani at an event for Giuliani's 2005 book "Leadership" at Four ... [+]
Key Facts
Attorneys Arthur Aidala and Barry Kamins said they were appearing on behalf of Giuliani as his attorneys in federal court filings Wednesday in the Southern District of New York related to the search warrant executed on Giuliani’s apartment.
The attorneys, partners in the New York-based firm Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins, were two of the lawyers to defend Weinstein in the ex-film producer’s legal proceedings in New York, which resulted in Weinstein being found guilty in February 2020 of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Weinstein’s case is still ongoing, as attorneys appealed his case in April.
Aidala, a criminal defense attorney, often served as the face of Weinstein’s defense team and defended his client to the media, telling NPR after the verdict that “nobody on [Weinstein’s] defense team is happy that Harvey Weinstein is not sleeping in his own bed.”
Kamins is a retired justice on the New York State Supreme Court who also served as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn.
Giuliani has also hired attorney John M. Leventhal from the same law firm, which has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Key Background
Giuliani’s legal woes intensified in late April when federal investigators searched his Manhattan apartment after obtaining a search warrant, reportedly seizing his electronic devices. It was a significant development in a long-running probe into whether Giuliani violated foreign lobbying rules in his dealings with Ukraine, particularly regarding his potential work with Ukrainian oligarchs to oust former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch in 2019. Giuliani has denied the allegations against him and called the search warrants a “corrupt double standard,” and one of the ex-New York City mayor’s other attorneys, Robert J. Costello, told the New York Times the search was “unnecessary” after Giuliani had offered to answer investigators’ questions and “legal thuggery.”
Tangent
The investigation into Giuliani is heating up now after reportedly being held up under the Trump administration, as the Times reported investigators in the Southern District of New York sought a search warrant for Giuliani’s electronic records over the summer. Justice Department officials in Washington, D.C., did not grant the request, however, citing the impending presidential election—before Giuliani later led former President Donald Trump’s failed legal campaign to overturn the results.
Further Reading
Feds Search Giuliani’s, Toensing’s Properties As Part Of Ukraine Investigation (Forbes)
Who Would Defend Harvey Weinstein? (Vanity Fair)
Harvey Weinstein Appeals Rape Conviction And 23-Year Jail Sentence (Forbes)
Report: Trump’s Justice Department Held Up Giuliani Investigation By Blocking Warrant Request (Forbes)
