A courtroom artist who’s been drawing Rudy Giuliani in court for more than 40 years says the former New York mayor is “losing it.”
Donald Trump’s former personal attorney had a meltdown in court on Tuesday, screaming and ranting at a federal judge—the tantrum captured in pastel by veteran courtroom artist Jane Rosenberg.
“His decorum has certainly changed from when I sketched him 44 years ago as a prosecutor,” Rosenberg told CNN. “He’s losing it.”
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Rosenberg began her courtroom career back in 1980, sketching prostitutes in Manhattan night court. At the time, Giuliani was making his name as a tough young prosecutor taking on the New York mafia.
Now the man hailed as “America’s mayor” after leading New York through the 9/11 attacks is a disbarred lawyer fighting a battle to keep hold of personal assets after a couple of Georgia poll workers won a $148-million defamation judgment against him.
Giuliani has been cagey about the payments. While he’s granted access to his Manhattan apartment, he’s been less forthcoming about some of his more valuable possessions. He’s surrendered a convertible he claims once belonged to actress Lauren Bacall, for example, but has turned over neither keys nor title.
In court, the 80-year-old screamed at Judge Lewis Liman that he has “no car, no credit card, no cash,” no liquid assets. For that reason, he bellowed, “I can’t pay my bills!”
“I feel bad for anyone who represents him,” Rosenberg observed. “He blurts out orders at his lawyers who are at the podium and, you know, he’s interrupting all the time.”
Two of the ex-mayor’s attorneys finally quit on Tuesday, having submitted their requests to be released from the case earlier this month. The New York rule they cited allows lawyers to abandon ship when they have a “fundamental disagreement” with their client.
Another reason for Giuliani’s anger was that Liman denied his bid to delay the trial—currently scheduled to begin Jan. 16—in part because Giuliani wants to attend Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. His new lawyer, Joseph Cammarata, argued that Giuliani has a “political right” to be there, but Liman said the defendant’s “social calendar” isn’t good enough reason to push back the proceedings.
Rosenberg, whose other courtroom subjects have included Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein, John Gotti, and Martha Stewart, was asked how it felt to hear Giuliani complain that he couldn’t pay his bills. “I didn’t really feel sorry for him,” she replied. “I’m sure he’s managing OK, and these women who he’s defamed are not seeing much of it [the money] at all.”
