Judge orders Giuliani to testify before Fulton grand jury

A Fulton County judge Wednesday ordered former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to testify before the special grand jury investigating attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, must appear before the grand jury on Aug. 9, according to an order handed down by Superior Court Judge Robert C.I. McBurney.

Giuliani was among the witnesses who testified before the Georgia Senate during a hearing at the state Capitol in December 2020. He and others blamed Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia on widespread voter fraud, allegations that have been disproven.

Giuliani presented a video of election workers at State Farm Arena in Atlanta producing “suitcases” of unlawful ballots, a video that was quickly debunked by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office.

The special grand jury issued a subpoena to Giuliani late last month, which Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis submitted to a court in Giuliani’s home state. When he failed to appear at a July 13 hearing, a New York judge ordered him to testify before the Fulton County special grand jury.

Willis has cast a wide net for witnesses in recent weeks. Wednesday’s order concerning Giuliani came one day after a lawyer for 11 of the 16 Georgia Republicans who formed an alternate slate of electors for Trump in December 2020 filed a motion to quash subpoenas ordering them to testify. The other five also have been subpoenaed to appear before the special grand jury.

Others subpoenaed to testify include U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, R-Greensboro, and state Sen. Burt Jones, R-Jackson, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.

Graham and Hice are fighting their subpoenas, while Jones has filed a motion to disqualify Willis, a Democrat, alleging she has a conflict of interest. A hearing on that motion is set for Thursday.

Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, already has testified before the panel, and Gov. Brian Kemp is due to sit for a deposition this month.

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.