Rudy Giuliani has been told by prosecutors in Georgia that he is the target of the special-purpose grand jury investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies violated the law in their efforts to reverse the results of Georgia’s 2020 election.
A Fulton County prosecutor called Giuliani’s Georgia attorney on Monday to inform him that Giuliani is now considered a target of the investigation, said Bob Costello, another attorney for Giuliani.
“That comes right after we asked him probably six or seven times” if Giuliani was a target, Costello said. He said the district attorney’s office declined to answer that question.
Giuliani being told by prosecutors that he is the target of the investigation was first reported by The New York Times. The district attorney’s office declined to comment on the report with the CNN .
Costello said Giuliani would still appear on Wednesday before the special grand jury, but declined to say whether his client would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Giuliani, who served as Trump’s attorney during the 2020 election, was ordered by an Atlanta-area judge to appear in person before the special grand jury this week.
He was subpoenaed in July, and a New York judge ordered the former mayor to testify before the special grand jury in Georgia after he failed to appear at a New York hearing on blocking the subpoena.
The former New York mayor also tried unsuccessfully to delay his appearance, saying he shouldn’t fly after he underwent heart stent surgery last month.
Giuliani met three times with Georgia state lawmakers in December 2020 following the presidential election — twice in person and once remotely.
During the meetings, Giuliani disseminated conspiracy theories about widespread wrongdoing and fraud in the state. Among his many false allegations, Giuliani accused two Atlanta election officials of smuggling fraudulent ballots for Joe Biden in suitcases.
Democratic state lawmakers previously reported to jury testimony from the CNN that they were asked to give into the prosecutor’s investigation covering Giuliani’s conduct.
They said they testified about Giuliani’s appearance at a Georgia Senate subcommittee hearing on December 3, 2020, during which Giuliani made false allegations of mass voter fraud.
Several state and federal officials have dismissed Giuliani’s allegations of fraud in Georgia, a state that Biden won by nearly 12,000 votes.
Byung “Bjay” Pak, the former federal prosecutor for the Northern District of Georgia, was among those who testified before the U.S. House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection that Giuliani’s allegations of voter fraud in the United States. Fulton County had been investigated by federal authorities and found to be false.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Democrat, detailed the wide-ranging scope of the investigation, saying it includes potential “election fraud solicitation, making false statements to state and local government bodies, conspiracy, extortion, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the administration of the election.”
On Monday, a federal judge also rejected an offer by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to entirely overturn a grand jury subpoena in the Willis investigation. The judge sent the dispute back to a state court for further proceedings.
With information from CNN’s Tierney Sneed
Source: CNN Brasil
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