Rudy Giuliani got pranked again ― but at least he wasn’t caught with his hand down his pants.
The former Donald Trump attorney apparently got tricked into praising a group that has investigated an energy firm founded by one of his clients.
New York magazine’s Intelligencer on Wednesday posted a Cameo video (watch it below) of Giuliani happily rattling off the first names of journalists and activists, including Reuters’ Angus Berwick and human rights advocate Thor Halvorssen, who have reported negatively on Derwick Associates. Derwick is run by Alejandro Betancourt, whom Giuliani reportedly represented in an effort to persuade the Justice Department to drop its bribery and money-laundering investigation into the businessman.
“This is Rudy Giuliani, and the message they want me to deliver is: The employees and the field staff of Derwick Associates want to thank you for your honesty and devotion, that you have fought for them for years and that — um — you’re very, very exceptionally dedicated.”
Giuliani just weeks ago joined the Cameo service, in which people can pay celebrities to say “happy birthday” and other greetings. And it looks like he’s already being made a fool.
“Well, that’s a nice thing!” Giuliani gushed about the greeting. “I really wish somebody would send me a message like that!”
Giuliani appears to say “Terwick” instead of “Derwick,” suggesting he was deliberately being thrown off the scent of a ruse.
“It’s hilarious, pitiful, surreal, and illustrative of his moral rot,” Halvorssen told Intelligencer. Halvorssen, who had sued Betancourt and Derwick Associates, said he had no idea who pulled the stunt.
Giuliani did not respond to multiple requests for comment about his screening process from Intelligencer, but Uproxx noted that one of his spokespeople recently quit.
Giuliani, who pressed Trump’s 2020 election lies in court, faces a $1.3 billion lawsuit and is under investigation for dealings in Ukraine, was notably pranked in the “Borat” sequel. He thought he was meeting with a real reporter (it was actor Maria Bakalova) and placed his hand down his pants in a hotel bedroom with her.