Georgia is now on Rudy’s mind. A New York judge has ordered Rudy Giuliani to head south to testify next month as a witness before a Fulton County, Georgia grand jury. They are investigating former President Donald Trump’s effort to undermine the 2020 election.
Giuliani is Trump’s former lawyer and was subpoenaed earlier this month by a judge. The order was to appear on August 9th, and it came after he failed to appear at a hearing in New York about blocking the subpoena. CNN has attempted to get a response from Rudy’s lawyer, but there has been no word.
Several state officials have been subpoenaed by this court and have already appeared before the special grand jury. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is leading the investigation, and she is focusing on the former president’s actions in the State of Georgia.
The subpoena for Giuliani said, “There is evidence that [Giuliani’s] appearance and testimony at the hearing was part of a multi-state, coordinated plan by the Trump Campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.”
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham was also subpoenaed earlier this month. He had previously said that he would not comply with the grand jury’s subpoena for his testimony. His inquiry will focus on phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff about the 2020 election.
He was joined by the other legal advisors of the Trump campaign including John Eastman, Cleta Mitchell, Jenna Ellis, and Kenneth Chesebro.
Rep. Jody Hice, a Republican from Georgia and a Trump ally is also fighting a subpoena to testify before the same grand jury. He voted to reject the state-certified election results in 2020.
District Attorney Fani Willis has also focused on 16 individuals who signed an “unofficial electoral certificate” that was sent to the National Archives in late 2020. She said that each of them may be indicted in the investigation.
It seems like the prosecutors in the case are inching closer to obtaining criminal charges against individuals involved in the effort to undermine the election. And it is also looking like the case is building toward including Trump himself because of the emphasis on bringing in his personal legal team.
They took part in overseeing the work to overturn the results of the election in Georgia and other battleground states.
A judge approved for Willis to subpoena Giuliani earlier this month. Because Rudy lives in New York, his summons was moved to a court close to him and a New York judge scheduled a hearing. It was thought that the former New York City mayor could squash the summons.
But Giuliani did not appear before the court, so the New York judge approved the order for him to appear in Fulton County.
It was reported much earlier by CNN that Giuliani was one of several witnesses who were subpoenaed because of their appearance before Georgia state lawmakers in December of 2020.
It was at the appearance that Giuliani gave testimony, and provided witnesses, as well as evidence that he said, demonstrated voter fraud. This is according to the court filings.
Those allegations by Giuliani were investigated and apparently proven false. But Giuliani continued to make statements in public and in legal hearings where he claimed widespread voter fraud in Georgia during the 2020 presidential elections. He kept using the evidence that the court said was false.
Things could get tough for Rudy and he probably wishes that Trump had given him a pardon while he was still in office.
