A Georgia special grand jury has ordered Rudy Giuliani to testify over former United States President Donald Trump's alleged attempts to overturn the state's elections in 2020.
The former New York mayor who later became the Republican businessman's personal attorney is expected to appear before the special grand jury next month. He has been one of the most outspoken proponents of false claims that Trump won the election and did not appear before a New York Supreme Court judge on July 11.
Giuliani Ordered To Testify
That hearing was to argue that he should not have to comply with the grand jury's subpoena. On Wednesday, the judge ordered Giuliani to testify on Aug. 9. The official's lawyers did not respond to multiple requests for comments regarding the judge's order.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis launched her investigation into the potential criminal election interference in the presidential election in early 2021. The decision came shortly after a reported phone call between Trump and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. That was where the former president allegedly pressured the secretary to "find" enough votes to overturn his election loss, as per the Washington Post.
A special grand jury was seated in May to obtain testimony from figures who had thus far not complied with investigators. The district attorney issued subpoenas to other officials, not just Giuliani, including six other out-of-state residents who embraced the former president's false claims about the election and tried to overturn Joe Biden's victory.
These individuals were identified to be Sen. Lindsey Graham, lawyers John Eastman and Cleta Mitchell, Trump campaign lawyers Jenna Ellis and Kenneth Chesebro, and conservative commentator Jacki Pick Deason.
According to CNN, on Tuesday, it was revealed that Willis has also informed all 16 of the individuals who signed an "unofficial electoral certificate" that was ultimately sent to the National Archives in late 2020 that they may be indicted in the probe.
Efforts To Overturn Georgia Election Results
Prosecutors are moving closer to potential criminal charges against the people involved in the attempt to overturn the state elections. It also suggests that the probe may be drawing closer to the former president himself, as it comes on the heels of subpoenas that were issued to several members of Trump's legal team who took part in overseeing the efforts.
A Georgia judge initially signed off on Willis' effort to subpoena Giuliani earlier this month because as a New York resident, his summons was moved to a court there, where a New York judge scheduled a hearing that gave him an opportunity to quash the summons.
Giuliani is a person of interest in the investigation due to a number of reasons, including his participation in a scheme to create slates of pro-Trump presidential electors in numerous states including Georgia. He also appeared in person before two Georgia state legislative committees in December 2020.
There, he allegedly spent hours peddling false conspiracy theories about secret suitcases of Democratic ballots and corrupted voting machines. He said, "You cannot possibly certify Georgia in good faith," the New York Times reported.
