Giuliani’s communications director resigns as legal problems mount

By Paula Reid and Paul LeBlanc, CNN

Rudy Giuliani’s communications director has resigned from her position, ending a nearly two-year stint as the former New York City mayor faces mounting legal problems.

Christianné Allen, who has worked at Giuliani Communication LLC since December 2019, said in a statement Monday that she is “proud of the accomplishments we achieved” and touted her role in launching Giuliani’s podcast. Allen said she is leaving to join an unnamed “rising tech startup.”

Her exit comes as Giuliani faces a raft of legal problems, including a federal investigation into his foreign lobbying work, possible civil liability related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and, the suspension of his law licenses.

Allen will be replaced by Todd Shapiro of Shapiro Associates in New York, who has been working with Giuliani for the past six months.

“We are experts in crisis management. We have been doing this for over 25 years. The mayor is going to be fine,” Shapiro told CNN Monday, adding that he plans to use the 20th anniversary of 9/11 to remind people of the embattled former mayor’s role in helping the city in the wake of the terrorist attack.

“I am out there to get the positive and the wonderful things that Giuliani is doing today.”

The ex-personal attorney to former President Donald Trump, Giuliani has been under investigation by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York since early 2019. He has not been charged and has denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutors are looking into whether Giuliani violated foreign lobbying laws by operating on behalf of Ukrainian officials when he sought the ouster of the then-US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, while urging Ukraine to investigate Trump’s 2020 political rival, then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, and his son Hunter.

US law requires anyone lobbying on behalf of a foreign government or official to register, and failing to do so is a violation.

In April, federal agents executed search warrants at Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment and Park Avenue office, seizing 18 electronic devices, according to prior court filings. Prosecutors also disclosed that they had covertly searched Giuliani’s iCloud account in 2019. An independent review of the documents taken during the searches is now underway to determine whether any are subject to attorney-client privilege.

Giuliani is also is facing a major defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems seeking billions of dollars in damages, claiming it was harmed by the unfounded claims of election fraud made by the confidants of Trump.

The company provides election equipment used by more than 40% of US voters. It has repeatedly denied all allegations of election fraud.

Giuliani has said Dominion’s lawsuit is meant to quiet him. When the suit was filed in January, he claimed it was “another act of intimidation by the hate-filled left-wing to wipe out and censor the exercise of free speech, as well as the ability of lawyers to defend their clients vigorously.”

Additionally, earlier this summer, Washington, DC, and New York state temporarily suspended Giuliani’s law license for pushing election lies.

Amid the mounting legal bills, Giuliani has been offering himself up on the personal video messaging site Cameo for $199 a video.

The-CNN-Wire
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