Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani laughed aloud in a press conference Wednesday when asked about the recent New York Times report that pinpoints his drinking as a new centerpiece in former President Donald Trump’s federal case.
“If I have an alcohol problem, I should be in the ‘Guinness Book of World Records,’” Giuliani said. “79 years old and I’m an alcoholic. You know how much I have accomplished?”
Giuliani touted his accomplishments, including putting “about 800 Mafioso in jail” and convicting and prosecuting former Nazis. He said he was “highly praised” for being the first person to use RICO, or the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, against Wall Street.
Giuliani said he “recovered billions of dollars for the federal government” and was “probably the most consequential prosecutor of the 20th century.”
The Times’ report describes Giuliani as a regular of the Grand Havana Room in New York’s Midtown, sometimes having nights where the Times’ said he was “overserved.” Close friends and associates told the outlet that his drinking was an issue for years.
Giuliani was indicted alongside Trump and 16 others in a 2020 election case in Georgia in August. Prosecutors in Trump’s case have shown an interest in Giuliani’s drinking habits. The prosecutors were asking if Trump had taken advice from or listened to Giuliani when he was clearly inebriated.
While the Times collected stories about Giuliani’s alleged drinking problem, many others stood up for the former mayor. Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s former political adviser, praised his career and accomplishments, mirroring what the former mayor said in Wednesday’s press conference.
“The Rudy Giuliani you all see today,” Goodman told the Times, “is the same man who took down the Mafia, cleaned up the streets of New York and comforted the nation following 9/11.”
In the press conference, Giuliani joked that he should sue the Times for their detailed report. On Wednesday, the former mayor filed a defamation lawsuit in New Hampshire against President Biden, his campaign and several fundraising committees for comments he made in 2020 in Nashville.