Rudy Giuliani will be required to testify before a Georgia special grand jury next month as part of an investigation into alleged 2020 election interference by former president Donald Trump and his associates, a New York judge has ruled.
Giuliani, who once served as Trump’s lawyer, was subpoenaed earlier this month but his summons was moved to New York, where he is a resident. A New York judge scheduled a July 13 hearing allowing Giuliani an opportunity to fight the summons.
The judge ordered Giuliani’s testimony for August 9 after he failed to appear for his hearing last week.
The grand jury, which is investigating whether any coordinated attempts to unlawfully alter the outcome of the 2020 elections occurred, subpoenaed Giuliani as a “material witness” earlier this month, claiming the lawyer made false statements at legislative hearings in Georgia that there had been “widespread voter fraud” in the state.
“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,” the subpoena said.
The investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has produced several other subpoenas as well, including for Trump’s other former legal advisers John Eastman, Cleta Mitchell, Jenna Ellis and Kenneth Chesebro.
A Fulton County judge recently ordered Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) to testify before the grand jury on August 2 about phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff about the 2020 election. Graham allegedly asked Raffensperger to begin by “reexamining certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump,” according to the subpoena.
Graham has denied any involvement in Trump’s alleged efforts to “find” votes to deliver him a win in Georgia ahead of the official election certification.
Representative Jody Hice (R., Ga.) is challenging a subpoena he received to testify before the grand jury as well.
Court documents filed on Tuesday said Willis has told 16 “fake electors” who signed an “unofficial electoral certificate” that was sent to the National Archives in late 2020 that they may be indicted in the investigation.