Rudy Giuliani In Talks With Jan. 6 Committee As Trump Implodes

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Caleb Newton
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Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani is in discussions with the House committee investigating the Capitol riot about providing it with information, according to a report from The New York Times. In theory, information from Giuliani could be among the highest-profile scores for the riot panel outside of records and other items more directly involving the former president, like documents from his presidential administration. Throughout the attempts by Trump and others to derail Joe Biden’s path to the presidency, Giuliani was right there: he traveled around the country, presenting supposed evidence of imaginary election fraud to state legislators, and he personally worked with Trump on specific plans for their attack on democracy.

As the Times put it, Giuliani “is in discussions with the House Jan. 6 committee about responding to its questions, according to three people familiar with the matter.” Although it’s unclear what success might be achieved through these negotiations, the Times adds that Giuliani “through his lawyer, has signaled to the committee that he plans to take a less confrontational stance toward its requests than some other members of Mr. Trump’s inner circle who are fighting the committee’s subpoenas or have otherwise refused to cooperate.” On one level, Giuliani has mostly stuck right by his previous activities, refusing to meaningfully acknowledge the documented legitimacy of the last presidential election. In addition, the Times notes that there could be financial concerns here: Giuliani is already facing legal travails like a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, an election technology company that’s been a prominent fixture in pro-Trump conspiracy theories about the election. Trying to fight a subpoena in court could seriously add to Giuliani’s expenses.

According to the Times, one “person familiar with the matter said that Mr. Giuliani was still negotiating over whether to give investigators an informal interview or a formal deposition, and that he had not yet determined how much information he might seek to shield from the committee by invoking executive privilege or attorney-client privilege with Mr. Trump.” Although Giuliani has done work as Trump’s personal attorney, he didn’t actually formally work in the executive branch at any point, so claims of executive privilege might be especially flimsy to hold up. Claims from Trump of executive privilege over information that the committee was after were cited by longtime ally Steve Bannon in making his own stand of opposition to the committee — and now Bannon is facing contempt of Congress charges for refusing to cooperate.

As for Giuliani, committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said last weekend that the panel’s “expectation is he is going to cooperate because that’s the law, that’s the requirement, same as if somebody [is] subpoenaed to court.” So far, the committee has heard from over 550 people, and its investigation is continuing despite Trump’s stonewalling. Although imminently planned public hearings put on by the panel have been widely discussed, it’s not immediately clear who might appear at those hearings as witnesses. Besides Giuliani, other Trump-associated attorneys who’ve been subpoenaed by the committee include Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, who were also involved in the ex-president’s election subversion efforts.



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