The notice came the same day a federal judge rejected efforts by another key Trump ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham, to avoid testifying before the special grand jury that followed evidence in the Atlanta case. One of Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers, Robert Costello, said in an interview that he was notified on Monday that his client was a target. His identification does not guarantee that a person will be charged. Instead, it usually means that prosecutors believe a charge is possible, based on evidence they’ve seen so far. Mr. Giuliani, who as Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer has spearheaded efforts to keep Mr. Trump in office, has emerged in recent weeks as a central figure in the investigation by Fannie T. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Ga. ., covering most of Atlanta. Earlier this summer, prosecutors questioned witnesses before a special grand jury about Mr. Giuliani’s appearances before state legislative committees in December 2020, when he spent hours peddling false conspiracy theories about secret suitcases of Democratic ballots and damaged election machines. For Mr Giuliani, the former New York mayor, the developments are the latest in a widening problem, although he got some good news recently when it emerged he was unlikely to face charges in a federal criminal investigation into his ties to Ukraine during the 2020 presidential campaign. Mr. Giuliani is scheduled to appear before a special grand jury on Wednesday in a downtown Atlanta court. His lawyer, Mr. Costello, said in the interview that Mr. Giuliani would likely invoke attorney-client privilege if asked questions about his dealings with Mr. Trump. “If these people think he’s going to talk about conversations between him and President Trump, they’re delusional,” Mr. Costello said. The rejection of Senator Graham’s attempt to avoid the deposition came in a written order from a federal district court judge in Atlanta, Leigh Martin May. Mr. Graham, Republican of South Carolina, is now scheduled to testify on August 23. The judge found that prosecutors had shown there was a “particular need for Mr. Graham’s testimony on matters related to alleged attempts to influence or disrupt the lawful administration of the 2022 election in Georgia.” Mr. Graham’s lawyers said he had been told by prosecutors that he was a witness and not a target.
Understand Georgia’s Trump Election Research
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Understand Georgia’s Trump Election Research
Immediate legal threat to Trump. Fani T. Willis, the Atlanta District Attorney, has been investigating whether former President Donald J. Trump and his allies interfered in the 2020 election in Georgia. The case could be one of the most dangerous legal problems for Mr. Trump. Here’s what you need to know:
Understand Georgia’s Trump Election Research
What are prosecutors looking at? In addition to Mr. Trump’s call to Mr. Raffensperger, Ms. Willis has been implicated in a conspiracy by Trump allies to send bogus Georgia voters to Washington and in inaccuracies about the election results that Mr. Giuliani made before the legislature. state assembly in December 2020.
Understand Georgia’s Trump Election Research
The possible charges. Experts say Ms. Willis is building a case that could target multiple defendants on charges of conspiracy to commit voter fraud and racketeering. Prosecutors have warned some state officials and pro-Trump “surrogate voters” that they could face charges. Prosecutors want his testimony for several reasons. Among them are two calls Mr. Graham made immediately after the 2020 election to Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, in which Mr. Graham asked about ways to help Mr. Trump by canceling some mail-in ballots. Mr. Giuliani’s post-election activities on Mr. Trump’s behalf have gotten him into trouble on several fronts. The House committee in Washington investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill has released videos of Mr. Giuliani’s activities in Georgia, and the scheme to create rival presidential electors is also under intense investigation by the Justice Department. Mr. Giuliani is among civil suits filed by two voting machine manufacturers, Dominion and Smartmatic, seeking billions of dollars in damages. Much of Mr. Giuliani’s conduct in Georgia was exposed last year by a New York state appellate court that suspended his law license. The court issued a 33-page report that mentioned Georgia 35 times and described “numerous false and misleading statements about the results of the presidential election in Georgia” by Mr. Giuliani. The court noted, for example, that Mr. Giuliani had falsely claimed that tens of thousands of underage teenagers had voted illegally in Georgia, even though an audit by Georgia’s secretary of state found that no one under the age of 18 had voted in the 2020 election. Mr. Giuliani was also central to the Trump campaign’s plan to urge lawmakers in swing states to designate different electoral rolls than those chosen by voters, which is part of the Georgia investigation as well as the Justice Department investigation. A spokesman for the Fulton County District Attorney’s office declined to comment Monday. In the past, Ms. Willis has said the Georgia investigation could lead to racketeering or conspiracy charges with multiple defendants. Norman Eisen, a lawyer who served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during Mr. Trump’s first impeachment and trial, said he believed that Mr. Giuliani being targeted could mean that Mr. Trump would eventually be target as well. “There’s no way Giuliani is a target of the DA’s investigation and Trump doesn’t end up as one,” Mr. Eisen said in an interview on Monday. “They are just too involved actually and legally in trying to use fake voters and other means to overturn the election results in Georgia.” Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers said he had done nothing improper in Georgia and was willing to cooperate. But they have fallen out with Ms. Willis’ office over her efforts to get him to testify before the grand jury. Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers said a doctor advised Mr. Giuliani not to travel by air because of a procedure he underwent in early July to insert heart stents, and they sought to delay his testimony or conduct it by video conference. the prosecutor’s office has resisted. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert CI McBurney said last week that Mr. Giuliani could travel to Atlanta “by train, bus or Uber” and set a date for Wednesday after agreeing to delay his appearance longer from one week. . Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers said that in any case, their client would have had little to say if he had been named a target of the investigation. “I think that would be means that he would want to do — to get him to travel down here, particularly by these alternative means, when there probably wouldn’t be a lot of testimony before the grand jury,” another Giuliani lawyer, William H. Thomas Jr., said after a court hearing. At least 17 other people have already been named as targets who could face charges in the investigation, including two senators and the head of the state Republican Party. Mr. Graham’s lawyers had based their argument that he should not be forced to testify on the Constitution’s speech and debate clause, which protects lawmakers from questioning about things they say are related to their official duties. Among other things, the lawyers argued that Mr Graham, as a high-ranking official, could only be summoned in “exceptional circumstances”. Judge May ruled that prosecutors had shown that such extraordinary circumstances exist. Mr. Graham argued that his calls to Mr. Raffensperger were protected by the Speech and Debate Clause because they were investigative in nature and related to his position, at the time, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. However, the judge, in her order, noted that “individuals on the calls have publicly indicated that Senator Graham was not merely engaged in legislative fact-finding” and was “seeking to influence Secretary Raffensperger’s actions” to benefit Mr. Trump. (Mr. Raffensperger said that Mr. Graham seemed to be suggesting that he find a way to discard legal ballots.) Judge May’s ruling essentially left the state court to determine what elements of Mr. Graham’s calls should be shielded under the Speech and Debate Clause. However, he also noted that, beyond the phone calls, there were many other items of interest to the special jury that were arguably fair game, including Mr. Graham’s “potential communication and coordination with the Trump campaign and its post-election efforts in Agriculture”. Prosecutors are demanding that two other Trump lawyers, Jenna Ellis and John Eastman, also appear before the special grand jury. The involvement of Ms. Ellis, a Colorado resident, will be considered at a hearing scheduled for Tuesday in Fort Collins, Colo. NM on Wednesday. Mr. Costello, Mr. Giuliani’s lawyer, was asked by a reporter Monday what mode of transportation his client would use as he traveled to Atlanta from New York. “No comment,” Mr. Costello said.
