Courtroom Sketch Artist Reacts to Rudy Giuliani ‘Losing It’ During Hearing

The artist who sketched several viral images of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani at a court hearing on Tuesday said Giuliani is “losing it” and acted “wild” at the proceeding.

“His decorum has certainly changed from 44 years ago, when I sketched him as a prosecutor,” the artist, Jane Rosenberg, said in a CNN interview. “He’s losing it. He was wild, he — I feel bad for anyone who represents him. He blurts out orders at his lawyers or at the podium and, you know, he’s interrupting all the time.”

Rosenberg’s sketches of Giuliani took off on social media shortly after the hearing, with users commenting that the images were “epic” and “masterful.”

Giuliani made headlines Tuesday when he repeatedly interrupted U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman at a hearing in New York related to a $148 million defamation lawsuit that two former Georgia election workers filed against him.

The ex-lawyer for President-elect Donald Trump lost the lawsuit and has been ordered to forfeit his assets to the former election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. Liman asked Giuliani during Tuesday’s hearing why he hadn’t given up nearly $11 million in assets as a down payment on the $148 million he owes.

The two men got into a heated back-and-forth, until Liman shut Giuliani down, saying, “I permitted Mr. Giuliani to speak. Next time, I will not permit him to speak and the court will have to take action.”

Rosenberg told CNN that when Liman told Giuliani he wasn’t allowed to speak anymore, “after Giuliani had that burst, he started shouting at him, pointing at him.”

Giuliani also ranted about the judge to reporters in the hallway outside the courtroom, Politico reported, calling him an “activist Democrat.”

“Have you figured out what side he’s on?” Giuliani said, referring to Liman. “Are you too dumb to see what side he’s on?”

“I’ve been a lawyer for 55 years,” he added, according to Politico. “I can figure out what side he’s on.”

Liman was nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by then-President Trump in May 2018. He was confirmed by the Senate in December 2019 by a vote of 64-29.

Giuliani’s appearance in court on Tuesday was part of what normally would have been a routine pretrial hearing, were it not for his repeated outbursts.

In addition to the Georgia defamation lawsuit, Giuliani faces criminal cases in Arizona and Georgia over efforts to subvert the 2020 election results. He was disbarred in New York in July and in Washington, D.C., in September.

Newsweek reached out to a Giuliani spokesperson for comment on Tuesday.