Kiriakou introduces it dryly: “Yesterday, I got a letter — not a welcome letter.” It told him he would be called as a witness in a defamation case against Rudy Giuliani. [1]
Why he is a witness
The chain runs back, in his account, five and a half years, to the solicitation of $2 million from him in exchange for a pardon. That story reached print in the New York Times with Kiriakou quoted, and on the day it appeared Giuliani is alleged to have told his aide that “that son of a bitch Kiriakou ratted me out to the New York Times.” That allegation is the plaintiff’s, in the lawsuit. [2]
Giuliani then telephoned the Times, Kiriakou says, and denied everything: the two men had never met, he did not know who Kiriakou was, no meeting took place, and Kiriakou had made the whole thing up. [3]
Kiriakou’s response, as he gave it to the reporter, was one sentence: “That idiot forgot that we took a picture together.” He sent the photograph to the Times, and the paper ran the story with the note that it had seen documentary proof that the meeting occurred. [3]
The plaintiff’s case
Asked who the plaintiff is, Kiriakou identifies Noelle Dunphy, formerly Giuliani’s assistant and his director of business development at Giuliani Partners. [2]
Her claim, as Kiriakou summarises it, is that over the course of a year and a half he never paid her — “It was just promises, promises, promises” — and that he sexually assaulted her twice, forcing her to perform sexual acts in exchange for not ruining her reputation in the Republican Party. [4]
Pressed on where the defamation lies in that, Kiriakou answers in a single line: “He ended up ruining her reputation in the Republican party.” [5]
On whether there is money to collect, Kiriakou notes that Giuliani says he is broke, and that Dunphy’s attorneys argue he has more than $100 million hidden in overseas accounts. [5]
His own attitude
Kiriakou’s stated feeling about being drawn in is reluctance rather than relish — “it’s because I don’t have enough problems in my life, I’m going to get involved in Rudy Giuliani’s” business. [6]
His plan is minimal: “I’ll do a deposition and be done with it.” Asked whether that is unpleasant, he is unbothered, and gives the reason: “all you do is you just tell the truth.” Both men, having given depositions before, agree there is nothing to fear in it. [6]