(Photo
by
Drew
Angerer/Getty
Images)
Rudy
Giuliani
has
been
in
quite
a
bit
of
legal
hot
water
of
late,
and
yesterday
America’s
Mayor
got
one
more
headache
in
the
form
of
a
collections
suit
filed
by
his
former
lawyer Robert
Costello
seeking
almost
$1.4
million
in
unpaid
bills.
Giuliani,
more
or
less
ruined
himself
through
his
association
with
Donald
Trump,
who
famously
stiffed
him
on
the
bill
for
his
services.
(In
fairness
to
Trump,
Giuliani
steered
him
into
not
one,
but
two
impeachments.)
But
in
his
own
way,
Costello,
a
partner
at
Davidoff
Hutcher
&
Citron
LLP,
has
also
tied
his
fortunes
to
the
former
president.
Costello
played
a
crucial
role
in
publicizing
Hunter
Biden’s
“laptop”;
he
reportedly
dangled
a
pardon
to
Michael
Cohen
during
the
Mueller
investigation;
and,
in
a
failed
attempt
to
head
off
an
indictment
of
Trump
for
making
false
business
records,
he
testified
in
March
to
a
grand
jury
in
New
York
that
his
former
client
was
an
untrustworthy
scoundrel.
He
also
counseled
Steve
Bannon
that
it
was
very
cool
and
very
legal
for
him
to
ignore
a
subpoena
from
the
January
6
Select
Committee,
netting
his
client
a
conviction
for
contempt
of
Congress
and
making
himself
the
subject
of
a
communications
warrant
after
making
some
perhaps
exaggerated
claims
to
the
FBI.
As
for
Giuliani,
this
collections
suit
is
hardly
his
most
pressing
legal
problem,
as
the
complaint
lays
out
in
excruciating
detail:
The
legal
services
included,
but
were
not
limited
to
representing
the
Defendant
while
he
was
being
criminally
investigated
by
the
U.S.
Attorney
for
the
Southern
District
of
New
York,
representing
the
Defendant
during
a
pending
criminal
investigation
in
Georgia
by
the
Fulton
County
District
Attorney’s
Office,
representing
the
Defendant
during
a
pending
criminal
investigation
by
Special
Counsel
Jack
Smith
regarding
the
January
6th
attack
on
the
U.S.
Capitol,
and
representing
the
Defendant
during
a
pending
investigation
by
the
U.S.
House
Select
Committee
to
Investigate
the
January
6th
Attack
on
the
United
States
Capitol.
The
Defendant
also
directed
Plaintiffs
to
supervise
more
than
ten
civil
lawsuits
filed
against
the
Defendant
that
were
commenced
in
various
state
and
federal
courts
as
well
as
participating
in
representing
the
Defendant
in
disciplinary
proceedings
regarding
his
law
license
in
the
District
of
Columbia
and
the
First
Department
of
New
York.
Giuliani
recently
defaulted
in
a
defamation
suit
brought
by
Georgia
poll
workers
Ruby
Freeman
and
Shaye
Moss,
whom
he
accused
of
tabulating
thousands
of
fraudulent
ballots.
Judge
Beryl
Howell
issued
the
“death
penalty
sanctions”
after
Giuliani
spent
years
refusing
to
comply
with
discovery,
in
part
because
he
was
so
deeply
in
hock
to
his
discovery
vendor
that
it
wouldn’t
release
his
communications.
But
Giuliani
was
willing
to
admit
to
the
allegations
—
sort
of
—
rather
than
disclose
his
finances.
It’s
not
the
first
rodeo
for
Costello
and
Davidoff
either,
who
recently
sued
Bannon
for
failing
to
pay
almost
$500,000
in
legal
fees.
In
fact,
the
lawsuits
against
Bannon
and
Giuliani
are
more
or
less
identical,
as
well
as
being
signed
by
the
same
Davidoff
associate.
The
New
York
state
court
granted
summary
judgment
in
favor
of
Davidoff
and
Costello
in
August.
Giuliani,
who
recently
put
his
New
York
apartment
on
the
market,
would
appear
to
be
more
or
less
judgment-proof.
He’s
also
barred
from
the
practice
of
law,
and
currently
earns
his
living
as
a
podcaster
and
Cameo
performer.
So
perhaps
it’s
wise
that
Davidoff
is
getting
its
claim
in
before
any
jury
starts
totting
up
the
damages
in
the
complaints
brought
by
Freeman/Moss,
Dominion
Voting
Systems,
its
competitor
Smartmatic,
and
Giuliani’s
former
lover/employee
Noelle
Dunphy.
According
to
Insider,
which
first
flagged
the
suit,
Giuliani
and
Costello
have
been
friends
for
decades,
going
back
to
their
time
as
line
prosecutors
in
the
Southern
District
of
New
York.
But
it
seems
like
that
friendship
has
now
run
its
course.
“I
can’t
express
how
personally
hurt
I
am
by
what
Bob
Costello
has
done,”
Giuliani
told
Insider.
“It’s
a
real
shame
when
lawyers
do
things
like
this,
and
all
I
will
say
is
that
their
bill
is
way
in
excess
to
anything
approaching
legitimate
fees.”
Ah,
well.
Trump
stiffs
Rudy,
Rudy
stiffs
Bob,
it’s
the
circle
of
life
…
at
least
in
MAGAworld.
Liz
Dye lives
in
Baltimore
where
she
writes
about
law
and
politics
and
appears
on
the Opening
Arguments podcast.