The Lincoln Project’s legal counsel sent a scorching letter to Rudy Giuliani after he falsely accused the group of helping plan the January 6th Capitol riot, demanding that Giuliani retract his statement and publicly apologize by February 3.

Giuliani made the comments in an appearance on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, accusing “antifa” and “some right-wing groups that operate for the Lincoln Project or have been working with the Lincoln Project at various times” of being responsible for instigating the riot.

The letter, which is embedded at the end of this article, was sent from Matthew Sanderson, a partner with the D.C. law firm Caplin and Drysdale and the same attorney who penned a previous viciously-worded reply to counsel for Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner regarding billboards the anti-Trump PAC had sponsored in Times Square.

The Lincoln Project’s legal response to the false and defamatory statements made by Rudy Giuliani. pic.twitter.com/MshgYIMC69

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) January 30, 2021

The heavily-footnoted letter began with a backhanded compliment — “You were once a respected and respectable figure” — and takes several paragraphs to lay out the “public spectacle” of Giuliani’s “unfortunate, self-inflicted decline,” culminating in his speech at the January 6th rally, where Giuliani promoted President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the election had been stolen, directed the attendees to “fight to the very end,” and even even shouted his support for “trial by combat.”

Rather than apologizing for your actions, you have spent the ensuing weeks deflecting blame and grasping for some way to explain your misconduct. You shamelessly muttered, for example, that your demand for “trial by combat” before an angry mob on January 6th was merely a benign reference to a 2014 episode of, as you put it, “that very famous documentary” Game of Thrones. You will say anything to anyone who will listen, but even Fox News is reportedly unwilling to listen to you anymore. I can only assume that is why you recently found yourself appearing on Steve Bannon’s online “War Room: Pandemic” program, of all places, to make a grievous error that you will come to regret.

Sanderson stated explicitly several times that Giuliani is “responsible” for the violent insurrection that happened after his speech, including the vandalism, injuries, and deaths that occurred. And, instead of apologizing, the letter pointed out, “you held tight to your fantastical claim” that the Lincoln Project incited the riot — even when Bannon repeatedly attempted to get him to back down.

“You committed a textbook act of defamation,” wrote Sanderson. “You publicly accused The Lincoln Project of an infamous and criminal act that it had nothing to do with, as you very well know. You lied.”

The letter concluded with a demand that Giuliani “retract your statement fully and to apologize publicly to The Lincoln Project,” with a deadline of this Wednesday, February 3.

“Refuse at your peril,” the letter ended, with the standard language directing someone who may be subject to litigation to preserve evidence, and then one final slam, referring to Dominion Voting Systems’ $1 billion lawsuit against Giuliani: “You will never again be America’s Mayor, but there may still be time to save some of the cash that you pawned your credibility for, should Dominion Voting Systems ultimately leave you with any.”

Lincoln Project founder Steve Schmidt spoke with MSNBC’s Ali Velshi on Saturday morning, saying he was “thrilled” at the chance to sue Giuliani into the Stone Age. (The video clip also includes part of Giuliani’s comments on Bannon’s podcast.)

“Well, what’s amazing about it, Ali is that at the end of it when you cut it off when Bannon goes to, ‘you’re killing me, you’re killing me,’ because Steve Bannon knows he’s going to get sued by us also, and he is, and so is Donald Trump who is Rudy Giuliani’s client, and Rudy Giuliani is acting on his behest,” Schmidt stated.

“It is very difficult to sue somebody for defamation or libel in the United States,” Schmidt acknowledged, “but our lawyers are telling us that Rudy is well across the line so we’re thrilled about this. It wouldn’t be a frivolous lawsuit.”

Schmidt added Giuliani’s claims against the Lincoln Project were “ludicrous,” “untrue,” and “defamatory.”

Read the full letter from the Lincoln Project’s attorney below:

The Lincoln Project Letter to Rudy Giuliani (Final 1.30.2021) by Sarah Rumpf on Scribd

Watch above, via MSNBC.

The post Lincoln Project Sends Scorching Letter Demanding Giuliani Retract His ‘Fantastical’ Claim They Planned Capitol Riot: ‘Refuse At Your Peril’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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