The revelation that he is the target of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation marked an escalation in the investigation and raised questions about Trump’s criminal exposure to the investigation. Willis’ office has also notified 16 Trump-supporting officials who falsely presented themselves as 2020 presidential electors that they are targets of her investigation, but the focus on Giuliani brings the investigation into Trump’s inner circle. Bob Costello, Giuliani’s lawyer, told CNN earlier this week that the former New York mayor would not necessarily answer questions. “If they want to play hard, we know how to play hard,” Costello said. Costello declined to say whether Giuliani would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, but suggested Giuliani would not answer questions about his communications with Trump. “If you think he’s going to talk to you about conversations he had with his client, you’re delusional,” Costello said. It all, he says, “depends on the questions they ask.” Other witnesses who appeared before the grand jury were subpoenaed to testify about Giuliani’s participation in hearings and meetings with Georgia lawmakers in 2020 where Giuliani advanced false allegations of voter fraud. Among the potential crimes Willis is investigating are filing false statements with state and local government agencies, as well as inciting voter fraud and conspiracy.
Investigators interest in Giuliani’s promotion of election fraud claims to lawmakers
Of interest to Atlanta investigators are hearings before Georgia lawmakers where Giuliani and other Trump allies have advanced conspiracy theories about alleged fraud in the 2020 election. In a Georgia Senate subcommittee hearing on December 3, 2020, Giuliani played heavily edited video of election workers in Fulton County and urged lawmakers to set a pro-Trump electoral roll that ignored state results that showed Joe Biden had won. He also appeared almost before a Georgia House committee to discuss alleged election irregularities on December 10, 2020. Giuliani and other Trump allies appeared in another hearing before Georgia lawmakers on December 30, 2020, where he repeated false claims that the state’s election was marred by fraud. His claims have been debunked by numerous state and federal officials. Among those pushed back were Trump appointees, including former Atlanta U.S. Attorney Byung “Bjay” Pak, who confirmed to the U.S. House on Jan. 6, 2021, the investigation that allegations of election fraud raised by Giuliani and others were investigated by federal authorities and found to be untrue. Democratic lawmakers who have testified before the Fulton County grand jury were asked to recount their experience attending those hearings, with investigators emphasizing the unusual way the hearings were put together, the lawmakers’ impressions of the information they shared and a suggestion for lawmakers to pursue an alternative voter ballot. Giuliani has dismissed the Willis investigation as a “political stunt” and a sign that “we are beginning to live in a fascist state.” “As I recall, I appeared in Georgia as Donald J. Trump’s lawyer, so I’m going to be prosecuted for what I did as a lawyer,” he said on his podcast Monday.
Multiple investigations into Trump’s election-rigging plans
For months, the public activity of the Fulton County investigation has made it seem like the most important legal risk for Trump and his inner circle to overturn his defeat in 2020. Only recently did it become clear that the Justice Department of The US is investigating the conduct of Trump allies related to the 2020 election, but the goals of that investigation are not known. Giuliani will appear before a Fulton County grand jury on Wednesday after being subpoenaed in July. By failing to appear at a New York court hearing challenging the subpoena, he was ordered by a New York judge to testify. Other attempts by Giuliani to stave off the appearance — including claiming that recent heart surgery prevented him from traveling — were unsuccessful. Other lawyers who represented Trump during the 2020 election also sought to challenge subpoenas to testify before the Fulton County grand jury. This story and title have been updated with additional developments. CNN’s Sara Murray, Jason Morris, Gloria Borger and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.
