Rudy Giuliani was ordered last week to testify as part of the ongoing criminal investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis into pro-Trump election meddling after the 2020 presidential race.
Giuliani was ordered to testify after he didn’t show up for a scheduled New York court proceeding to deal with potential challenges to the subpoena for his testimony from Willis. The order was issued on July 13 by New York Judge Thomas Farber after Giuliani failed to appear for that court proceeding that same day, and it directs Rudy to appear for testimony on August 9 “and on any such other dates as the court there may order.” The New York directive for Giuliani to testify only became publicly available once Willis’s team filed it this week in court back in Georgia. Willis’s filing notified the court of the issuance of the order for Giuliani to testify.
It appears as though the original hearing where Giuliani was absent wasn’t the result of his own push against the subpoena. Rather, the hearing was seemingly a component of regular court practice. Farber issued an Order to Show Cause to Giuliani, which mandated he “appear and show cause why a summons of [the] court should not be issued directing the Witness to appear and testify before the Special Purpose Grand Jury” working on Willis’s investigation, as her court filing explains. Giuliani was served with the final order issued by Farber that outlined he must testify in the Willis probe, according to additional details in that new filing from the district attorney, who personally signed the doc. The original Order to Show Cause that targeted Giuliani specified that a failure on the long-time Trump ally’s part to appear for the scheduled New York hearing would mean the court there would be issuing a final order directing him to testify in Georgia.
The later final order from Farber mandating that Giuliani testify in Georgia indicated that the court was “satisfied that the requested testimony” from Rudy is “material and necessary to the criminal proceeding and in the public interest.” Giuliani’s role in pro-Trump election meddling in Georgia included pushing lies to state legislators about the integrity of the last election. He was also involved in the plot to put together fake electoral votes for Trump contradicting the actual results. Separately, it’s recently come out that all those who signed on as fake electors for Trump from Georgia despite Biden’s win in the state are now deemed targets of the Willis probe, meaning they could be eventually charged. Initial info about that development emerged via a court filing tied to 11 of the fake electors challenging subpoenas for grand jury testimony they all received. Prosecutors later clarified all 16 individuals were, in fact, targets.
The 16 individuals include high-profile figures like the current chairperson of the Georgia GOP. Additionally, grand jury subpoenas demanding testimony in the Willis investigation have gone out to key Trump allies including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and extremist attorney John Eastman. Graham recently agreed to accept service of his subpoena and to drop court challenges to it in his home state. Any further challenges from the Senator will be handled in Georgia.
