Rudy Giuliani ordered by judge to testify in Georgia election interference probe

Rudy Giuliani has been ordered by a New York Supreme Court judge to appear for testimony in front of a grand jury investigating election interference in Georgia.

Mr Giuliani, who was part of a legal team assembled by Donald Trump to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election with false claims of fraud, failed to appear at the “show cause” hearing in which he was due to challenge a subpoena that called him to testify.

The subpoena was issued by Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis, who is currently leading a wide-ranging investigation into efforts to overturn the results of Georgia’s presidential election results by Mr Trump and his allies.

Justice Thomas Farber ordered Mr Giuliani to appear before the grand jury on 9 August, 2022, “and on any such other dates as this Court may order,” according to a court filing by Ms Willis in Georgia on Wednesday.

The order was made on 13 July, the filing noted.

Ms Willis’ investigation has been gathering pace in recent weeks. Earlier this month, a special grand jury investigating potential criminal interference in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results subpoenaed key players in the legal team that advised Mr Trump during the aftermath of the vote. Among this group were Mr Giuliani, who was Trump’s personal lawyer, John Eastman, Cleta Mitchell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis. Senator Lindsay Graham, a Trump ally, was also included.

On Tuesday, she informed 16 Republicans who served as fake electors for Mr Trump’s efforts that they could face criminal charges. The Republicans were members of a group that signed a certificate declaring falsely that Mr Trump had won the 2020 presidential election and announcing themselves as Georgia’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.

The initial court filings allege “a multi-state, coordinated plan by the Trump Campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.” A 23-person grand jury was impaneled in May and has already heard from numerous witnesses.

The subpoenaed Trump allies all played a role in Mr Trump’s efforts to change Georgia’s results by pushing false claims about election fraud. Mr Giuliani pushed bogus claims of “suitcases” of ballots being taken away by election workers and rigged election machines in testimony before Georgia legislators in late 2020.

The subpoena issued to him said he “possesses unique knowledge concerning communications between himself, former President Trump, the Trump Campaign, and other known and unknown individuals involved in the multi-state, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.”

Although the subpoenas do not necessarily imply that the recipients are the subjects of inquiry, they do represent the closest a criminal investigation into election interference has reached Mr Trump and his inner circle.

The investigation from which they sprung was launched in February 2021 by Ms Willis. It targeted Mr Trump’s attempt to overturn Georgia’s election results, an effort that included his infamous 2 January phone call to Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger during which he asked him to “find” 11,000 votes.

The investigation could have a profound impact on the future not just of Mr Trump and his allies, but of the United States. Mr Trump has indicated that he plans to run again in 2024, and it is likely that he would win the Republican nomination. One thing that could ruin those plans is criminal charges for election interference.