Rudy Giuliani, a RICO pioneer who is now facing charges in Georgia under the same laws he was celebrated for prosecuting, once called racketeering defendants illegitimate.
"Organized crime figures are illegitimate people who would go on being illegitimate people if I got them off," Giuliani said in a 1985 interview with The New York Times. "I would not want to spend a lot of time with them, shake hands with them, have sidebar conferences with them and become involved with people who are close to totally evil."
Giuliani, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York between 1983 and 1989, was hailed during his time as a prosecutor for his innovative use of the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act against the mob in New York. Late Monday, a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, indicted Giuliani on criminal charges for violating similar racketeering laws.
Giuliani, former President Donald Trump, and 17 other co-defendants were indicted this week in connection to Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. All the defendants were charged with violating the state's RICO statute, which requires prosecutors to establish that any association of individuals engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity towards a common purpose.
"So Trump and those who allegedly assisted him in trying to overturn the 2020 election qualifies," former federal prosecutor and President of West Coast Trial Lawyers Neama Rahmani previously told Newsweek.
The Georgia indictment is the latest fall for Giuliani, whose reputation rapidly diminished in recent years, including his time as Trump's personal lawyer. The former U.S. attorney turned mayor of New York City had been a successful prosecutor who used RICO laws to take down the city's most prominent Mafia bosses, also known as the heads of the "Five Families," and charge "junk bond king" Michael Milken for an insider trading scandal.
"I dreamed up the tactic of using the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act to prosecute the Mafia leadership," Giuliani wrote in his 2002 book Leadership.
The Mafia Commission Trial resulted in eight convictions and led to a more widespread application of the law.
Although Giuliani had been celebrated for his "tough on crime" approach in New York, his current legal standing in the state suggests a tough downfall for the 79-year-old.
In April 2021, federal investigators from the very U.S. attorney's office that he used to lead executed a search warrant against him and seized multiple electronic devices from his home and office. Two months later, the Supreme Court of the State of New York suspended him from practicing law pending an investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Giuliani was charged with 13 counts on Monday, including violation of oath by public officer, making false statements, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, and conspiracy to commit forgery.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, like Giuliani, has a history of prosecuting RICO cases. As an assistant district attorney, she successfully brought a high-profile case against a group of public school educators in a cheating scandal. She continued to use Georgia's racketeering statute as district attorney, including against several well-known rappers like Young Thug.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
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