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Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who became President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, has been ordered to appear next month before a special grand jury investigating potential interference in the 2020 Georgia election, according to court filings.
Giuliani, who has been one of the most outspoken proponents of false claims that Trump won the election, failed to appear before a New York Supreme Court judge on July 11 for a hearing to argue that he should not comply with the grand jury subpoena. On Wednesday, the judge ordered Giuliani to testify on August 9.
Attorneys for Giuliani did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis (D) launched her investigation into potential criminal interference in the early 2021 presidential election shortly after The Washington Post reported a phone call between Trump and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (D) in which the president puts pressure on the secretary to “find” enough votes to reverse his election loss.
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A special grand jury was convened in May to obtain testimony from figures who have so far resisted submitting to investigators.
In addition to Giuliani, the district attorney issued subpoenas to six other out-of-state residents who embraced Trump’s false claims about the election and tried to overturn Biden’s victory. They were Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (RS.C.), attorneys John Eastman and Cleta Mitchell, Trump campaign attorneys Jenna Ellis and Kenneth Chesebro, and conservative commentator Jackie Peak Deason.
Because none of the group lives in Georgia, prosecutors had to seek approval from a judge in their states of residence to compel them to appear.
The subpoenas help define the full scope of the district attorney’s criminal investigation into Trump and his associates’ ongoing efforts to challenge Georgia’s election results or cast doubt on the legitimacy of the state’s election administration.
On Tuesday, court documents showed that prosecutors notified 16 Republicans who were involved in a conspiracy to certify false electoral college votes for Trump in Georgia that they were now “targets” of the criminal investigation.
Willis has not ruled out subpoenaing Trump himself if his testimony becomes interesting to the grand jury.
The special grand jury that convened in early June has so far identified more than 100 persons of interest. Grand juries have already heard testimony from the Georgia attorney general, secretary of state, state legislators and local election officials. Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is scheduled to file a written affidavit next week.
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