Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Joe diGenova (L-R) (Image via CSPAN screengrab)
Weeks after Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, the then-president assembled a so-called “elite strike force” of attorneys on a stage before a map illustrating “MULTIPLE PATHWAYS TO VICTORY.” The states highlighted in red represented those whose results Trump would try, and fail, to overturn.
The press conference quickly became a punchline likened to an “SNL skit,” and at least two of its presenters are under fire. Both ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and “Kraken” attorney Sidney Powell have been fighting for their law licenses over their post-election antics. A Washington, D.C., bar disciplinary committee found that Giuliani likely violated a professional rule, and a Michigan federal judge issued a lacerating sanctions order that could imperil Powell’s ability to practice law.
Now, Powell is facing friendly fire from the ex-mayor with whom she once shared a stage.
“The wicked witch of the east,” cracked Giuliani, struggling to pin down Powell’s name during a deposition made public on June 9.
First flagged by independent journalist Marcy Wheeler on Twitter, the March 1, 2023, deposition illustrates the strained ties between the two lawyers. Giuliani delivered the insult while being deposed in a lawsuit filed by Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who are suing for defamation over false claims that the women swung the election for President Joe Biden in the Peach State.
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 21: Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss (L), former Georgia election worker, testifies during the fourth hearing on the January 6th investigation as her mother Ruby Freeman (R) listens in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC.
As Giuliani struggled to remember Powell’s name on the hot seat, he remarked: “I remember who it is, I just can’t remember the name. I block it out.”
Eventually, Giuliani landed on Powell’s first name, and the attorney questioning him jogged his memory on the surname.
Powell didn’t immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
Freeman and Moss, who appeared before the Jan. 6th Committee, released the deposition excerpts as exhibits to a filing seeking to compel testimony by former New York City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik. The ex-NYPD chief rose to prominence after the Sept. 11 attacks, then fell precipitously with prosecutions and convictions for tax fraud and lying to White House officials. Trump pardoned him in February 2020.
Ex-NYPD chief Bernie Kerik (Screenshot via YouTube)
A grateful Kerik ultimately became a visible force in Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat and became a director of the #FightBack Foundation, a dark money group associated with “Kraken” lawyer Lin Wood — and formerly, the fundraising arm for Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse.
Freeman and Moss claim that Kerik also played a “central” role in a smear campaign against them.
“In the days after the 2020 presidential election, Defendant Rudolph Giuliani asked his decades-long confidante, Bernard Kerik, to ‘come back and assist him’ in efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election,” their attorney Michael J. Gottlieb wrote in a legal brief. “Mr. Kerik answered that call and became, in his own words, ‘the primary investigator and coordinator’ for Defendant Giuliani’s post-2020 election efforts.”
Their legal brief highlights Kerik’s tweets casting suspicion on what he claimed to have been “USB HANDOFF” from Freeman to her daughter.
Now what can possibly be on that thumb drive? What’s so secret, that they must act like it’s a drug deal? Or, is it just my imagination? Same woman counting concealed ballots in Georgia? 🚨 Video Breakdown USB HANDOFF RUBY FREEMAN TO DAUGHTER https://t.co/tTKZGvXsGc
— Bernard B. Kerik (@BernardKerik) December 6, 2020
In fact, Moss testified under oath about what that supposed flash drive actually was.
“A ginger mint,” Moss said.
They want Kerik to produce a document-by-document privilege log and documents and testimony “improperly withheld as privilege.” Kerik didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read the deposition excerpts here.
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