Rudolph Giuliani, former Trump lawyer, is the subject of a criminal investigation for the attempted rigging in Georgia | International

Of all the legal cases that former President Donald Trump faces, the one that takes place in the State of Georgia constitutes the hard core of the investigations about his attempts to reverse the result of the elections. The siege has tightened even more on the Republican, after it became known that Rudolph Giuliani, who was his lawyer, is the subject of a criminal investigation for his alleged involvement in the attempted rigging.

Giuliani is scheduled to appear before a special grand jury in an Atlanta court on Monday, after his efforts to avoid testifying last week were rejected on the 9th by a judge in that state. Giuliani argued to excuse his appearance that two stents in early July and couldn’t fly, to which Judge Robert CI McBurney replied: “You can come by train, by bus, by Uber, or whatever.” Giuliani received the subpoena in May, when the grand jury hearings began.

The former mayor of New York, who led the offensive to keep Trump in power despite the electoral victory of Joe Biden, has become in recent weeks a central figure in the investigation undertaken by District Attorney Fani T. Willis of Fulton County, which encompasses most of Atlanta. So far this summer, prosecutors have questioned two of the seven witnesses called before the grand jury about Giuliani’s statements in December 2020, when he spent hours spreading false theories about vote rigging.

Of all those summoned, Giuliani’s profile is the one that offers the greatest target, due to his political relevance among Republicans (his son Andrew was a candidate in the primaries for governor of New York). In filings before the Georgia State legislature in December 2020, the former New York mayor claimed to have identified a fraud involving two poll workers. To back up his claims, Giuliani played an edited video showing said Fulton County officials allegedly pulling suitcases containing Democratic votes from under a table to proceed with the switch. He also spread the hoax that there were rigged voting machines.

His lawyer, Robert Costello, told the newspaper today New York Times that his representative will probably not testify under the confidentiality clause due to his client Trump. Prosecutors will be very “disappointed,” the lawyer has warned, if they expect Giuliani to elaborate on his conversations with the Republican.

Prosecutor Willis has already taken a statement from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the main recipient of Trump’s calls to reverse the result, and Governor Brian Kemp, who testified at the end of July. The incumbent president contacted both in the weeks after the election, urging them to seek enough votes to swing the results in his favor. Governor Kemp, who once refused to cheat to please his leader, won the Georgia primary against all odds, dealing a considerable setback to Trump, who had encouraged a fierce campaign against him. . Giuliani is the third heavyweight, while the other four witnesses are attorneys for the presidential team.

An eighth witness for the prosecution, Senator Lindsay Graham, theoretically protected, has tried to get out of the case, but his immunity has not convinced a federal judge, who on Monday referred him to the Georgia grand jury at the hearing to be held August 23. Graham denies calling Raffensperger in the weeks after the election, allegedly urging him to throw out mail-in ballots.

The special grand jury cannot indict or impose sentences, a task that corresponds to prosecutors, but it can summon witnesses under subpoena and order the delivery of documents related to the investigation.

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