Former Trump lawyer and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who currently under federal investigation over potential foreign lobbying law violations, has been tightening his belt by jettisoning employees and independent contractors in recent weeks, according to Politico.
One of Politico’s sources said the staffers were told that the lawyer was trying to cut costs.
Though Giuliani reportedly hired a part-time driver recently, Politico notes that the entourage that follows him around New York has shrunk overall.
The layoffs come as the Justice Department investigates Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine. Meanwhile, voting tech firms Smartmatic USA and Dominion Voting Systems are suing Giuliani in sweeping defamation lawsuits for peddling conspiracy theories claiming that the companies rigged the 2020 election against then-President Donald Trump. Dominion Voting Systems is demanding a whopping $1.3 billion in damages.
It is unclear whether Giuliani’s new cost-cutting efforts are directly tied to his legal troubles. However, his allies have been calling on Trump to pay Giuliani, whom the then-president hired to overturn the 2020 election results in a series of flimsy lawsuits, for his work. The lawyer had reportedly demanded $20,000 a day for his efforts.
Trump has refused to pay Giuliani anything, according to the New York Times.
