7 Trump Allies Subpoenaed in Georgia Criminal Investigation: In relation to the investigation into interference in the election, numerous people in the orbit of the former president, including Rudy Giuliani, Lindsey Graham, and John Eastman, were served with subpoenas.
In the ongoing criminal investigation in Georgia into allegations that Donald J. Trump and his associates interfered with the election, seven of Mr. Trump’s advisors and allies, including Senator Lindsey Graham and Rudolph W. Giuliani, were issued subpoenas on Tuesday to testify. The move was the most recent indication that the probe has implicated a number of important members of Mr. Trump’s inner circle and may cast doubt on the future of the former president himself.
The issuing of the subpoenas highlights the comprehensive nature of the investigation that is being led by Fani T. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, which is responsible for prosecuting most of the city of Atlanta. According to the documents that have been filed, she is mulling over a variety of allegations, some of which include racketeering and conspiracy, and her investigation has included witnesses from outside the confines of the state. It was revealed earlier by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the most recent wave of subpoenas had been issued.
A subpoena is not evidence that a person is the focus of an investigation; however, some of the most recent recipients are believed to be at risk in the case. In particular, Mr. Giuliani, a personal lawyer for Mr. Trump who has emerged as a central figure in the grand jury proceedings in the Georgia investigation, is considered to be at risk in the case. Mr. Giuliani spent several hours in December 2020 testifying in front of legislative panels in the state of New York. During his time there, he spread bogus conspiracy theories about tainted election equipment, and a video that he said revealed secret suitcases full of Democratic ballots. During that time, he addressed members of the State House, telling them, “You cannot possibly certify Georgia in good faith.”
In the subpoena that was issued by Ms. Willis’ office, it was stated that Mr. Giuliani “possesses unique knowledge concerning communications between himself, former President Trump, and the Trump campaign, as well as other known and unknown individuals involved in the multistate, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.”
Even though all of the subpoenas were due on Tuesday, not all of them had been delivered at that point. A representative for Mr. Giuliani’s legal team, Robert J. Costello, was quoted as saying, “We have not been served with any subpoena, and as a result, we have no current comment.”
Others who were served subpoenas include Jenna Ellis, a lawyer who worked closely with Rudy Giuliani to overturn the results of the 2020 election; John Eastman, the legal architect of a plan to keep Donald Trump in power by using fake electors; and Mr. Graham, a South Carolina Republican who called the Georgia secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, days after the election to inquire about the rules for discarding mail-in ballots. All of these
Cleta Mitchell, another famous attorney who was served with a subpoena, was on a call that President Trump made to Mr. Raffensperger on January 2, 2021, in which the President ordered Mr. Raffensperger to obtain enough votes to alter the results of the state’s election. “During the telephone call, the witness and others made allegations of widespread voter fraud in the November 2020 election in Georgia and pressured Secretary Raffensperger to take action in his official capacity to investigate unfounded claims of fraud,” it stated in the subpoena that was issued to her.
Jacki Pick Deason, who assisted the Trump campaign in making their argument in front of the Georgia legislature, and Kenneth Chesebro, who is also a lawyer for the Trump organization, were both served with subpoenas.
The majority of those who were subpoenaed could not be reached right away for a comment. Ms. Deason is a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, but a representative for the organization declined to comment on the matter.
A significant amount of interest is being directed toward the hearings that the House committee investigating the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, is currently conducting in Washington. A conspiracy to build bogus voter slates for the 2020 presidential election is also the subject of an investigation that is progressing at a rapid pace within the Department of Justice. However, the investigation being conducted in Georgia is currently the one that is receiving the most public attention.
In addition, the subpoenas provided some hints as to the areas that are being investigated.
At one of the parliamentary hearings that Mr. Giuliani presided over in December 2020, Mr. Eastman testified as a critical witness. Ms. Willis’s office stated in its subpoena to Mr. Eastman that during the hearing he had “advised lawmakers that they had both the lawful authority and a ‘duty’ to replace the Democratic Party’s slate of presidential electors, who had been certified as the duly appointed electors for the State of Georgia after the November 2020 election, due to unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud within the state.” Ms. Willis’s office stated this information in its sub
They referred to the appearance as being a part of a “multistate, coordinated operation by the Trump campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.”
On January 6, according to the subpoena, Mr. Eastman “drafted at least two memoranda to the Trump Campaign and others detailing a plan through which Vice President Mike Pence, as president of the Senate, could refuse to count some of President Joe Biden’s electoral votes.” However, Mr. Pence did not go along with this plan, and it was noted in the subpoena that Mr. Pence did not go along with this plan.
In reference to Ms. Ellis, the office of Ms. Willis stated that even after the office of Mr. Raffensperger discredited claims of fraud by election workers at an Atlanta arena, Ms. Ellis persisted in her allegations. In spite of this, additional comments were made by the witness, according to the subpoena, which claimed that there was widespread voter fraud in Georgia during the election in November 2020.
