Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was heard in an audio recording calling out an indictment against him as a “complete embarrassment” to the legal system.

The former Trump attorney pleaded not guilty in a video call as an Arizona court commissioner warned he would mute his microphone after he went on a tear about all of the threats made against him.

Giuliani was arraigned in a video call and pleaded not guilty in Maricopa County court Tuesday over nine charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“I’ve been indicted in Georgia. I’ve appeared on every occasion. I’ve been sued about 20, 25 times by a very similar movement to this one, which is the ‘Let’s See What We Can Do to Destroy Donald Trump Movement,’” Giuliani could be heard saying in audio aired by CNN.

“Okay, give me just a moment. Okay. Sir. Sir,” the court commissioner Shellie Smith responded.

“I would consider this indictment a complete embarrassment to the American legal system, but I’ve shown no tendency not to comply. I show up for every court appearance and there must have been about 20 to 30 of them,” Giuliani continued. “There is no history of my being a flight risk, which is the basis for setting bail.”

“Alright, sir, I think I understand your position,” Smith again interjected. “Thank you, sir. Give me one moment.”

But the former mayor continued, “I think it would be outrageous if you set bond in this completely political case that comes very, very late.”

“Alright. Sir. Sir. Mr. Giuliani, I don’t want to mute you, but I need to move on,” came the warning. “Give me just a moment. I understand what your position is regarding release conditions.”

According to CNN:

Giuliani was joined by 10 other defendants entering their not-guilty pleas Tuesday. Four of those appeared virtually and six in person. The list includes: Christina Bobb, a Trump ally who now serves as the Republican National Committee’s top lawyer for “election integrity”; former Trump campaign aide Mike Roman; and former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward.

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Ex-Trump lawyer John Eastman pleaded not guilty last week.

Six others, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn and former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis are scheduled to appear next month.

Giuliani was served with a notice of indictment at his 80th birthday party in Palm Beach, Florida last week and prosecutors, who reportedly tried to track him down for weeks, described him as “uncooperative.”

Prosecutor Nicholas Klingerman told the judge that Giuliani “has failed to reach out or be cooperative in this process.”

“We actually had two agents in Florida, at the time, who were sitting outside the party waiting to see if he would leave” he added.

Giuliani was ordered to post a $10,000 bond and appear in person in Arizona within a month.

“I haven’t been hiding from anyone,” he responded in the virtual call. “I have a fair number of threats … and I don’t have security any longer since I’ve been in bankruptcy. So I have very specific rules.”

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Frieda Powers

Senior Staff Writer
Frieda@bizpacreview.com

Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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