Giuliani Defends His Call For ‘Trial By Combat’ on Jan 6 as ‘Clearly Hyperbolic’ in Response to Capitol Riot Lawsuit

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Rudy Giuliani and his legal team claimed he didn’t actually foment an insurrection when he called on supporters of former President Donald Trump to engage in “trial by combat.”

As Giuliani contends with the criminal investigation that recently led to federal agents raiding his apartment, he’s also facing a civil lawsuit from Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) over his connection to the storming of the U.S. Capitol. The lawsuit is also directed at Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Congressman Mo Brooks (R-AL), accusing them all of breaking multiple laws and inciting the rioters with their speeches at the “Save America” rally.

In a lawsuit filing submitted on Monday, Swalwell gravitated many of his accusations against Giuliani around the fact that Trump’s former personal lawyer used his speech on January 6th to push numerous 2020 election conspiracy theories. It especially focuses on the part of the speech where Giuliani told the crowd “if we’re wrong, we will be made fools of. But if we’re right, a lot of them will go to jail. So, let’s have trial by combat!”

The filing contains Giuliani’s legal response that “there is simply no reasonable reading of the Giuliani Speech that can be construed as an incitement to violence.” It goes on by claiming Giuliani’s words were” hyperbolic” and that it’s “completely unreasonable” for Swalwell to assume they implied a call for violent action.

From page 10 of the briefing:

No reasonable reader or listener would have perceived Giuliani’s speech as an instruction to march to the Capitol, violently breach the perimeter and enter the Capitol building, and then violently terrorize Congress into not engaging in the Electoral Certification. Nor would anyone perceive the “trial by combat” reference as a call to arms to invade the Capitol. The statement is clearly hyperbolic and not literal and, even if it were to be perceived literally, Giuliani is clearly referring to an event in the future after evidence of alleged Election fraud is collected. No one could reasonably perceive the “trial by combat” reference as one inciting the listeners to an immediate violent attack on the Capitol, which could have nothing to do with Giuliani’s allegorical “trial by combat” over evidence of fraud in the Election.