The steady drip, drip, drip of the justice system comes for us all. Especially in the case of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Joined by ten co-defendants, the former Trump attorney entered a plea of not guilty on Tuesday at his arraignment. Giuliani faces nine felony charges for his alleged involvement in the attempt to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 electoral defeat in Arizona.
During his remote appearance in the Phoenix courtroom via Zoom, Giuliani revealed that he did not currently have a lawyer representing him but that he should at a later date. Asked by the judge whether he’d need a court-appointed attorney, Giuliani responded: “No, I think I am capable of handling it myself.”
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At one point in the proceedings, the sound of water slowly streaming and splashing could be heard directly from Giuliani’s microphone. While Giuliani appeared to be preoccupied, the judge interrupted by calling the ex-mayor’s case number.
“Is that me, Rudy Giuliani?” Giuliani asked as the dripping stopped.
It didn’t take long for the clip of Giuliani’s arraignment to go viral on social media on Tuesday, with many making the obvious comparison to a gag featured in an iconic 1980s comedy flick. “Great reminder that I haven't watched ‘Naked Gun’ in a long time, and should probably rectify that ASAP,” Discourse co-owner Rafi Schwartz tweeted.
For those inside the courtroom, the question of whether Giuliani was pulling a Frank Drebin left many of them holding back the urge to laugh.
“We were all trying to hold our composure in the courtroom while trying to figure out what it was,” reporter Cameron Arcand noted.
Whether the man who at one point earned the nickname “America’s Mayor” decided to engage in a literal pissing match with the court or not, he’s not the first MAGA figure to find himself embarrassed by a hot mic in the bathroom. During a Twitter Space livestream with a host of far-right internet personalities last year, former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy decided to do some personal streaming of his own while forgetting to mute his microphone.
It was also Giuliani’s love of live streams (no pun intended) that led to him finally being served by Arizona authorities in the fake electors’ case after he had avoided process servers for weeks. According to the Arizona attorney general, Giuliani was finally handed his notice to appear shortly after his Florida birthday party last week.
Just hours earlier, he boasted to his audience via an online stream where he’d be that evening, inadvertently tipping off authorities to his whereabouts.
A spokesman for Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment on The Daily Beast’s leak investigation.
