The Georgia Indictment, RICO, and Rudy Giuliani

I have not been watching all of the news coverage but I would hope that someone would point out the irony present in this situation. Giuliani has been swept up in the Georgia indictment on the basis of RICO – the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

RICO along with the Witness Protection Program proved critical in breaking the power of the mafia. RICO allowed prosecutors to pursue guilt by association – guilt by being part of a corrupt organisation. And the witness protection program enabled prosecutors to 'flip' lower-ranking members of organised crime. They would 'rat out' their bosses in exchange for the promise of a new identity and immunity from prosecution. Figures like Rudy Giuliani and Michael Chertoff used this combination to become anti-Mafia crusaders. For Giuliani this would bring fame and eventually take him into the mayoral office of New York City. Rightly or wrongly his zenith was 9/11and he capitalized on that narrative for many years.

How ironic, even tragic that in the end he decided to 'throw in' with a criminal like Trump and has now forever tarred his own legacy – even to the point of facing criminal charges and the threat of prison. And how ironic that the law that targets criminal organisations has now been applied to the Trump cabal – which would include Giuliani. It's beyond ironic, it's almost poetic.

In this case it's the state law as opposed to the original RICO which is federal, but the concept is the same and certainly the Georgia statute is derived from the federal model.

What happened to this man that at one time was semi-serious contender for US president? A man that built his career fighting crime and corruption ends up entrenched in criminal morass of the Trump organisation and its attempts to corrupt the voting process in Georgia in order to steal the election. You can't make this stuff up.

Not everyone was happy with RICO. There are legal and constitution issues but it was pushed through as an end justifies the means – it was getting results and breaking up the organized crime families. Giuliani championed the legislation and now it has been turned against him. He should have known better.

One of the criticisms was that it could create a guilt by association scenario and have the potential to target innocent people. But prosecutors like Giuliani didn't care – they were so confident in their abilities to know what's happening and who was guilty. One must wonder if he's reflecting on any of that given these charges. I doubt it, nor do I think he's innocent of the charges, but if I were him, I would be seriously re-examining my life at this point.

See also:

https://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-rico-dragnet-and-its-dangers.html