Former personal attorney to Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, was hit with a sexual assault lawsuit this week, accusing the one-time New York mayor of "sexual assault and harassment, wage theft, and other misconduct."
Giuliani's ex-associate Noelle Dunphy, who filed the lawsuit in New York Court on Monday, alleges that "Giuliani began abusing Ms. Dunphy almost immediately after she started working for [him]" and that "satisfying his sexual demands—which came virtually anytime, anywhere—was an absolute requirement of her employment and of his legal representation."
Following these potentially damaging allegations, a claim on social media further attacked Giuliani, claiming that he had married his cousin.
The Claim
A tweet from social media commentator @jojofromjerz, posted on May 15, 2023, viewed 1.2 million times, claimed that Rudy Giuliani had married his "cousin".
The tweet covers additional claims, which this fact check won't cover.
The Facts
The Giuliani lawsuit alleges that the former New York mayor hired Noelle Dunphy as his director of business development in January 2019 and offered to provide her pro bono legal representation in a domestic dispute with a former partner.
The lawsuit made several graphic allegations against Giuliani, including that he "took Viagra constantly" and that Dunphy "worked under the constant threat that Giuliani might demand sex from her at any moment."
The claim, shared on Twitter by @jojofromjerz, is separate from these allegations, even if meant as a criticism in its wake.
While the lawsuit's allegation remains in court, the claim that he married his cousin is accurate.
A 1997 article by The New York Times, uncovered by PolitiFact in 2007, stated that he married Regina Peruggi, on October 26, 1968; she and Giuilaini's father were first cousins.
The pair annulled their marriage in 1983 before Giuliani became United States attorney for Southern District of New York, the Times reported separately.
Giuliani said the marriage was annulled because they didn't get a dispensation from the Catholic Church needed to marry as second cousins, once removed. The couple did not have any children.
Under New York law, even marriage to first cousins is unprohibited. Although not spelled out, the relationship is not prohibited, unlike marriage to a sibling, uncle and niece or aunt and nephew.
In any case, the claim that Giuliani married his cousin is accurate.
Newsweek has contacted Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins via email for comment.
The Ruling
True.
Rudy Giuliani married his second cousin once removed, Regina Peruggi, in 1968. The marriage was annulled in 1983, Giuliani claiming that they hadn't acquired a dispensation from the Catholic Church to do so. The couple did not have children.
Although Giuliani used dispensation as grounds for annulment, marrying even first cousins is not prohibited in New York.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
