US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he would be awarding former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“As President of the United States of America, I am pleased to announce that Rudy Giuliani, the greatest Mayor in the history of New York City, and an equally great American Patriot, will receive THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM, our Country’s highest civilian honor. Details as to time and place to follow,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The announcement comes as Giuliani is recovering in hospital following an accident in New Hampshire.
Giuliani in recent years has been subject to sanctions and lawsuits over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in favor of President Donald Trump by filing lawsuits in key states.
His law license was temporarily suspended in New York in June of 2022. At the time, a court ruled "there is uncontroverted evidence" that Giuliani "communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump's failed effort at reelection in 2020."
A month later, Giuliani's law license was also suspended in Washington, DC.
In 2023, the former New York Mayor conceded that he made public comments falsely claiming two Georgia election workers committed ballot fraud during the 2020 presidential race, but argued that the statements were protected by the First Amendment.