'Can’t imagine he’s willing': Analyst explains what Guiliani would have to do to get a public defender

During Tuesday's episode of MSNBC's The ReidOut with Joy Reid, legal analyst Barbara McQuade explained why former President Donald Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani might need a public defender, and the steps he would have to take in order to get one.

Recently indicted by an Atlanta grand jury alongside Trump on charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election and already dealing with "financial difficulties," the ex-New York mayor was sued this week by his lawyer for $1.3 million in "unpaid legal fees," according to The New York Times.

"If his lawyer is suing him, is there a world in which no one will represent him and he could end up with a public defender? And how would the lawsuit play into his needing to be in court for his own case?" Reid asked McQuade, who's also a former United States attorney.

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"He does have to show, to get a public defender, he would have to reveal all of his finances," McQuade replied. "He would have to show that he is at the level of indigency that he cannot afford to pay a lawyer to represent him in the case. It's a little bit of a sliding scale. You don't have to be below the indigency level depending on the complexity of the case, and what a reasonable legal fee would be for this case, but he could have to fill out a financial affidavit. I can't imagine he's willing to do that. There's poor, and there's, 'I don't want to spend money on my lawyers.' And so, I think that he would have to show he's in the former category before he would ever get a public defender appointed for him. And yes, in a criminal case, you do have to be present, so he has to show up, and if he can make out the case, he would get a public defender. But I think he's been aspiring to the gold plated defense, wanting to spend as if he has limitless funds and that appears to no longer be the case."

Watch the video below or at this link.