The House Select Committee which was tasked with investigating the events leading up to the unprecedented Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot, has issued subpoenas for Rudy Giuliani, and other Trump allies for allegedly spreading false fraud election claims.
The list of individuals affected by the new subpoenas includes attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell. The committee also subpoenaed Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump campaign adviser, who was also among the people working with Giuliani at the post-election Willard Hotel "command center" on Tuesday.
New Subpoenas
In a statement, the chairman of the House Select Committee, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, said that the four individuals that were subpoenaed worked to spread "unsupported theories" about election fraud. He added they were also believed to have pushed efforts to overturn the election results or were in direct contact with the former president about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes.
The new subpoenas mark a significant escalation in the investigation that the committee is conducting regarding the events of the Capitol Hill attack. The panel is now seeking information directly from the people at the heart of former President Donald Trump's push to overturn the 2022 presidential elections, CNN reported.
Thompson added that the panel expected the four individuals to join nearly 400 witnesses who have already spoken with the committee about the details behind the Jan. 6 incident. In a letter transmitting the notice of the subpoenas, Thompson cited Giuliani's involvement in trying to convince state legislators to take steps to overturn the results of the 2020 elections.
The subpoena against Giuliani also noted his urging of Trump to seize voting machines across the United States and because he contacted the former president in the days prior to the Capitol Hill siege "regarding strategies for delaying or overturning the results of the 2020 election."
Robert Costello, Giuliani's lawyer, said on Tuesday that he will be reviewing the subpoena against his client but noted that there were significant legal barriers to Giuliani providing information related to his work, The Washington Post reported.
Election Fraud Claims
Giuliani was speaking to a crowd of loyal Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, just before the unprecedented attack on Capitol Hill where he apparently called for "trial by combat." Later on, when the siege was underway, he allegedly called lawmakers in an attempt to delay the certification of Joe Biden's victory against the Republican businessman.
Since losing the elections, Trump has repeatedly claimed that he was the rightful winner and not Biden. He has made his claim over and over in various interviews and addresses, rallying supporters with his claims.
But in an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep last week, the Republican businessman was pressed on his claims and answered back by hanging up the call. Inskeep argued that even the former president's lawyers did not have evidence of fraud and were not able to prove the claims in court several times.
Despite the challenges, Trump continued to claim that he could not have lost the 2020 presidential elections. Even when Inskeep tried to interject between the Republican businessman's claims, he was left out and later left for good, the New York Times reported.
Related Article:
