Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is the subject of a criminal investigation into possible illegal attempts to interfere in the 2020 election result in Georgia.
Giuliani’s attorney said Monday that the Atlanta Special Attorney sent a notification that the former New York City Mayor is being investigated by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
It is the latest step in an investigation that comes close to former President Trump.
Ms. Willis said she is considering calling Trump himself to testify before the special grand jury.
This is all separate from the federal investigation into Mr. Trump and the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol.
Mr. Giuliani is expected to testify Wednesday before a special grand jury in Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta, after a judge ordered him to comply with a subpoena.
During a daily talk show that he hosts on New York’s WABC radio, Mr. Giuliani said the investigation is politically motivated and claimed, without elaborating, that Atlanta is “notorious for corruption.”
Giuliani’s attorney, Robert Costello, said his client will refuse to answer any questions about Trump violating the attorney-client privilege.
Mr. Giuliani appeared before Georgia state politicians in December 2020 and echoed Trump’s false conspiracy theories about stolen ballots.
He also urged them not to certify Democratic President Joe Biden’s victory.
The Fulton County investigation began after a recorded phone call in January 2021 in which Trump urged the state’s top election official to “get” enough votes to alter the result.
Rudy Giuliani at a press conference in the days following the result of the 2020 US elections. Image: AP
The former president has repeatedly falsely claimed that he won Georgia as well as the 2020 presidential contest.
The special grand jury was convened in May at Ms. Willis’ request, including for her summons power.
Mr. Giuliani, a former U.S. crime-fighting lawyer, was among the many Trump advisors and attorneys who received grand jury subpoenas last month, including U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
A federal judge on Monday ruled that Mr. Graham, a close ally of the former president, must testify before the grand jury over phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who also received Trump’s phone call in January 2021. .
“The court believes the district attorney showed extraordinary circumstances and a special need for a senator
Graham’s testimony on issues related to alleged attempts to influence or disrupt the legitimate administration of the 2022 elections in Georgia, “US District Judge Leigh Martin May wrote in an order.
In a statement, Graham said the phone calls were made as part of his constitutionally protected legislation
duties and that he would have challenged the decision.
In court documents, prosecutors claimed that Mr. Graham explored the possibility of reviewing absentee ballots in calls that
They “certainly seem interconnected” with Trump’s efforts to reverse the election outcome.
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Giuliani among Trump’s allies sued by the commission investigating the attack of January 6, 2021
It comes as Trump is facing a series of probes on his conduct.
In addition to the Georgia case, a congressional commission is investigating his involvement in the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol by Trump supporters.
Last week, the FBI seized confidential documents from his Florida estate which he was suspected of having removed from the White House.
A publicly issued search warrant on Friday said federal authorities were investigating possible violations of the Espionage Act, among other laws.
In New York, the Attorney General’s Office and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office are conducting civil and parallel parallels
criminal investigation to see if Trump has improperly inflated the value of his assets.
Trump declined to answer questions from the New York Attorney General’s office last week, citing his constitutional right not to indict himself.
