Judge slams Rudy Giuliani for 'imagined' evidence of political prosecution in Arizona

An Arizona judge chastised former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for alleging without evidence that he was being prosecuted for political reasons.

In a two-page ruling Thursday, Maricopa County Superior Court Bruce Cohen responded to Giuliani's request for information about grand jurors who indicted him for an alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Cohen said Giuliani had claimed that the jurors were selected because of their political affiliations but provided no evidence to back up this assertion.

"He did not provide any allegations that would support this claim but rather, imagined a circumstance where grand jurors may have been summoned and selected based upon their purported political ideology," the judge wrote. "When pressed by this court during oral argument, counsel for Defendant Giuliani acknowledged that there was no underlying factual support for the claim."

"In other words, he argued that he should be permitted to pursue the 'theory' because it had not been demonstrated that the theory was baseless."

Cohen said Giuliani's argument did not persuade him.

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"There are times in which dispelling unsupported allegations becomes crucial in maintaining public trust and institutional credibility. During those times, addressing a claim promptly and clearly is essential," he explained. "Hopefully, it fosters a more informed environment, one in which fact rather than speculation is."

To satisfy Giuliani, Cohen said, "[T]he State filed the affidavit which, in pertinent part, affirmed that 'political party affiliation information as to potential grand jurors was not known or available to the grand jury commissioner or representatives when summoning a potential pool for the 93rd Grand Jury.'"

With that, Cohen denied Giuliani's request.