Rudy Giuliani goes on unhinged rant claiming Mike Pence’s wife leads him around on a leash

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Rudy Giuliani claimed that Mike Pence is being led around on a leash by his wife during a mad rant sparked by the former vice president’s comments on Donald Trump’s latest indictment.

Mr Giuliani, Mr Trump’s former lawyer and allegedly one of the co-conspirators in that indictment, went after Mr Pence on Newsmax after he slammed the former president’s gaggle of “crackpot lawyers” for supporting his lies in connection to the 2020 election.

The former New York mayor’s rant came hours after Mr Trump pleaded not guilty to four charges at an arraignment in Washington, DC on Thursday. In his third indictment this year, the second from Special Counsel Jack Smith, Mr Trump has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

Responding to that indictment on Wednesday, Mr Pence repeated what he has been saying since the insurrection on January 6 2021 – that he had no right to attempt to overturn the electoral college votes and send them back to the states.

“For my part, I want people to know that I had no right to overturn the election and that what the president maintained that day, and frankly has said over and over again over the last two and a half years, is completely false,” Mr Pence said, according to The Hill. “And it’s contrary to what our Constitution and the laws of this country provide.”

“You know, I’m a student of American history. And the first time I heard in early December somebody suggest that as vice president I might be able to decide which votes to reject and which to accept, I knew that it was false … I dismissed it out of hand,” Mr Pence added.

“Sadly, the president was surrounded by a group of crackpot lawyers that kept telling him what his itching ears wanted to hear.”

Mr Giuliani made his displeasure with the “crackpot” comment clear in his Thursday Newsmax appearance.

“I'm a real trial lawyer – not make-believe – like a lot of these people. I once got a congressman to break down on the witness stand and confess,” Mr Giulani told host Eric Bolling.

“I don’t think he’s even been in a courtroom, and he went to a law school nobody even knows.”

Mr Pence received his law degree from Indiana University’s Robert H McKinney School of Law in 1986 while Mr Giuliani attended New York University.

“I thought before that he was a really good guy, but too weak to be president. I always worried about him following Trump, because I would see him with his wife having something around his neck every night,” Mr Giuliani said, referencing Mr Pence’s wife Karen and gesturing the use of a leash and collar.

“She lets him go to the bathroom by himself, but that’s about it,” he added.

“But imagine that skunk doing what he did today? If you can’t separate Trump from the First Amendment issue here, then you’re just not a good person. This is not about Trump. If this were being done to my worst enemy, I would be fighting the case for them,” he said.

This comes after another bizarre rant on Mr Bolling’s programme by Mr Giuliani earlier this week, where he argued that Mr Smith should be indicted for indicting Mr Trump.

“The people lying are the people bringing this… They should be indicted for conspiracy against rights,” he seethed on Tuesday night.

“So here’s what I say to Jack Smith,” he said. “After the Supreme Court threw out your case, which should have been a disgrace... you should have gone and found another profession because you don’t belong in this one.”

“This one will be your legacy, violating the rights of free speech of an American citizen. Never mind whether he was president or not,” he added. “It could be anybody. It could be a homeless person. You don’t get to violate people’s first amendment rights, Smith. No matter who the hell you are, no matter how sick you are with Trump derangement syndrome.”

Mr Giuliani then brought up a copy of the indictment before slamming it down.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve acted like an unethical lawyer,” he said. “It should be the last.”

Mr Giuliani’s attorney Robert Costello told to The New York Times that it “appears that Mayor Giuliani is alleged to be co-conspirator No. 1”.

Mr Giuliani made other unsavoury headlines this week over a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by a former assistant.

Noelle Dunphy sued the Trump ally in a Manhattan court in May for $10m for allegedly forcing her to perform sex acts and making racist, sexist, and remarks while working as his aide between 2019 and 2021.

In a new court filing this week, Ms Dunphy’s lawyers provided transcripts of tapes that allegedly lay out in graphic detail some of Mr Giuliani’s sexually explicit remarks.

Ben Goodman, a political adviser to Mr Giuliani, previously told The Independent that the 79-year-old political veteran “unequivocally denies the allegations” in the lawsuit.

On Wednesday, Mr Goodman told The Independent that Mr Giuliani’s relationship with Ms Dunphy was entirely consensual.

Bevan Hurley contributed to this report