After Rudy Giuliani was served with an indictment for attempting to overturn Arizona's 2020 election results, Kris Mayes, the state's Attorney General, explained to CNN's Kaitlan Collins how her office used his livestreams to locate and serve him as he was leaving his own 80th birthday celebration in Palm Beach, Florida.
On Monday, Mayes said Giuliani "was the last of 18 defendants" to be served, noting that agents made considerable efforts to reach him:
“We had the attempted on multiple occasions in multiple ways to serve Mr. Giuliani. Our agents had traveled to New York City to try to serve him. We were not allowed in his building there where he lives."
"We stayed there for two days. We mailed him a letter. We made phone calls, and ultimately we had to send agents down to Florida where he went most recently to serve him.”
"It just happened to be Friday night [and] happened to be on his 80th birthday or 80th birthday party."
Mayes said her office had attempted to serve Giuliani "over a series of weeks" and that he'd made a few public appearances while actively avoiding Arizona agents, prompting Mayes to keep an eye on his "podcasts and livestreams":
“I think Rudy Giuliani knows how this works and obviously, as you know, he does a lot of podcasting. It’s pretty easy to locate and to find, but he was not accepting service and was dodging our agents."
“We found out [Giuliani’s location] essentially through his live stream. He’s not that hard to find. And so we did that and our agents professionally served him after his birthday party, as the party was winding down, and as he himself was leaving the house that he was in, we gave him a copy of the papers, and he went along his way.”
You can hear what Mayes said in the video below.
Mayes also dismissed Giuliani's claim that he “told them where I would be” before he was served:
“He did not tell us where he was going to be except that he told the world where he was through his live cast.”
“It’s really hard to believe that he didn’t know that we were looking for him given the number of times and the different ways we had tried.”
She said that once served, Giuliani “took the papers and proceeded to his car" and that she believes "he might have been a little bit surprised."
She stressed that "this is a serious case, we expect him to take it seriously," adding:
We expect him to be in court tomorrow.”
Mayes' appearance came just days after she announced on X, formerly Twitter, that Giuliani, "the final defendant," had been "served moments ago." She emphasized that "nobody is above the law."
Her message also included a screenshot of a tweet from Giuliani, who dismissed Arizona officials and bragged about avoiding them with the following statement:
"If Arizona authorities can't find me by tomorrow morning: 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they can't count votes."
@RudyGiuliani/X
After her CNN appearance, Mayes thanked Collins for "the opportunity to again clarify that" Giuliani is not above the law.
Clearly Mayes' efforts paid off—and critics were quick to mock Giuliani for unsuccessfully evading justice.
Giuliani pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to nine felony charges related to his efforts to overturn former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat in Arizona to President Joe Biden.
Alongside Giuliani, ten others, including former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, also entered not guilty pleas to charges of conspiracy, forgery, and fraud. The arraignment, held in a Phoenix courtroom, saw Giuliani participating remotely. Trials for Giuliani and Ward are set for October 17, roughly three weeks before the election.
Prosecutors sought a $10,000 cash bond, detailing the efforts made by Arizona authorities since April 23 and the challenges encountered.
However, the judge decided that Giuliani should post a secured appearance bond of $10,000 and mandated his presence in Arizona within 30 days for booking procedures. While a cash bond would require Giuliani to pay $10,000 to the court, a secured appearance bond allows him to provide a security worth $10,000 to secure his release.
Giuliani stated that he had not been evading Arizona authorities, explaining that he has strict protocols regarding visitors to his residence due to receiving death threats and lacking security personnel. He said he considers "the indictment to be a complete embarrassment to the American legal system."
@LeeMerrittesq/X
@bob_moss/X
@jelanijones/Bluesky
@Aurkayne/X
@sadcommunistdog; @froglok/Bluesky