Topline
A New York Supreme Court judge Wednesday ordered Rudy Giuliani, a former personal lawyer of former President Donald Trump, to testify next month before a Fulton County, Ga., grand jury that is investigating Trump and his allies’ attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talks to … [+]
Key Facts
Giuliani must appear before the special purpose grand jury—which was launched by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) in February 2021 to investigate Trump’s post-election conduct—as a witness on August 9, the New York judge ruled.
The order comes a few weeks after the grand jury subpoenaed Giuliani, who then failed to appear at a hearing in New York about challenging the subpoena.
The jury has also subpoenaed conservative legal scholar John Eastman, Trump-allied lawyers Jenna Ellis, Cleta Mitchell and Kenneth Chesebro and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
Tangent
The order comes a day after reports emerged that 16 Republicans—including two top Georgia GOP officials—who attempted to cast sham Electoral College ballots for Trump are under criminal investigation and could be prosecuted as a part of the Fulton County grand jury’s investigation. Willis reportedly sent the Republicans “target” letters alerting them to the development. The fake electors are set to appear before the grand jury Monday.
Key Background
Giuliani is under investigation for perpetuating false claims of voter fraud to state lawmakers in 2020 and encouraging them to appoint a new slate of electors in Trump’s favor. Giuliani peddled these claims to lawmakers in several states in the weeks after the election. The former New York City mayor and other Trump allies came back to Georgia in late December to spread debunked claims of election fraud again. The special grand jury could take up to a year to complete its probe, after which it will issue a report that could recommend criminal charges, though a separate grand jury would need to indict Trump or any others involved. Giuliani has also been a target of an investigation conducted by the House January 6 committee, which has aired several clips of Giuliani appearing before Georgia lawmakers and promoting false theories that Trump actually won the state of Georgia in 2020.
Further Reading
Rudy Giuliani ordered to testify before Georgia grand jury investigating Trump on August 9 (CNN)
Georgia Fake Electors Could Face Criminal Charges, DA Reportedly Says (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/07/20/new-york-judge-orders-rudy-giuliani-to-testify-before-georgia-grand-jury-investigating-trump/