Grand jury testimony represents a new marker in an investigation that is offering increasing signs of the potential legal peril ahead for Donald Trump and some of his associates.
- Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani is expected to make a Tuesday appearance in Atlanta.
- Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is scheduled to appear Aug. 23, but he’s challenging the demand.
- The demands for testimony from high-profile figures suggests the probe has found its focus.
There are few more loyal allies to former President Donald Trump than Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Lindsey Graham.
All have emerged as key figures in Trump’s failed efforts to cling to power and each now face looming August dates to testify before a special grand jury in Atlanta as part of a fast-moving criminal investigation into interference in the 2020 election.
Giuliani, the former New York mayor and face of Trump’s failed legal campaign to overturn the 2020 election with false claims of election fraud, is set to appear Tuesday. Eastman, the pro-Trump lawyer who pushed efforts to assemble fake slates of Trump electors to subvert President Joe Biden’s victory in key battleground states, has been ordered to appear before the end of the month.
So far, Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina who called on Georgia officials to re-examine the state’s absentee ballots, has vowed a challenge to a string of subpoenas for some of the most high-profile figures in Trump’s camp.
Trump team in contact with DOJ: Donald Trump’s legal team in contact with Justice Dept. officials in Jan. 6 inquiry
Yet the local court orders also represent new markers in an investigation that is offering increasing signs of the potential legal peril ahead for Trump and some of his associates. Unlike the largely shrouded criminal investigation pursued by the Justice Department, court filings in the Fulton County inquiry have revealed a preliminary list of targets and a roadmap of sorts for an investigation that was launched with Trump as its central focus.
“It’s serious as a heart attack,” said Robert Rubin, an Atlanta attorney who has represented a witness called before the panel, “They are pouring enormous resources into this investigation.”
Rubin declined to identify his client, except to indicate the appearance was related to the fake electors scheme – a theme that has pulled Giuliani, Eastman and other Trump allies into the sights of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has been leading a far-reaching inquiry for the past year.
Will Trump be asked to testify?: Atlanta-area DA weighing whether to call Trump to testify before grand jury in election fraud probe
The demands for testimony from such high-profile figures – described by Fulton County officials as “material witnesses” – suggests that the evolving investigation has found its focus.
“By the time you get to people like Giuliani and Eastman, you probably know where you are headed,” Rubin said.
At least for now, Giuliani’s attorney, Robert Costello, said his client has no plans to delay a Tuesday appearance in Atlanta.
“They (Fulton County officials) are a rather inflexible bunch,” Costello told USA TODAY. “We will take it question by question.”
Former Trump White House counsel subpoenaed: Federal grand jury subpoenas l Pat Cipollone in DOJ Jan. 6 inquiry
Court documents: Rudy Giuliani’s testimony evidence of ‘a coordinated plan by Trump campaign’
In Giuliani’s case, Fulton County officials have outlined multiple areas of inquiry.
The former New York mayor, suspended from practicing law in New York and D.C. for his election fraud allegations, had made wide-ranging claims that voting systems altered Georgia ballots, while ignoring a hand-count audit that confirmed Biden’s victory in the state.
Giuliani also asserted that about 65,000 or 66,000 underage voters, more than 2,500 felons and 800 dead people voted in the state. All of those claims have been debunked by the Georgia secretary of state, which found no underage voters, only 74 potential felony voters, and two votes that may have been improperly cast in the name of dead voters.
Fulton County DA Fani Willis: Remember Trump’s call to ‘find’ votes in Georgia? Meet Fani Willis, the DA who could charge him
According to court documents seeking Giuliani’s grand jury appearance, Fulton County authorities are highlighting the Trump lawyer’s Dec. 3, 2020, appearance before the Georgia State Senate in which he offered a video recording of election workers at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, purporting to show “suitcases” of unlawful ballots from unknown sources, outside the view of election poll watchers.
Within 24 hours of the state Senate hearing the video had been discredited by the secretary of state’s office, concluding “no voter fraud of any kind had taken place.”
Wandrea ArShaye Moss targeted by Trump after 2020 election
After being targeted by President Donald Trump, former Georgia election worker Wandrea ArShaye Moss testified to the violation of privacy that she endured.
Ariana Triggs, USA TODAY
“There is evidence that (Giuliani’s) appearance and testimony at the hearing was part of a multi-state, coordinated plan by the Trump Campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere,” according to the court documents.
While Costello said Giuliani is expected to appear Tuesday, he indicated that pressing his client on communications with Trump would likely be off limits, shielded by attorney-client privilege.
“It’s hard for me to figure out what they (Fulton County authorities) are doing,” Costello said.
Jan. 6 rioter sentencings: Jan. 6 rioters who attacked police get most prison time, but majority of those sentenced avoid jail
John Eastman’s electors scheme, testimony under scrutiny
Fulton County officials, meanwhile, have referred to the same Dec. 3, 2020, Senate hearing in seeking Eastman’s grand jury testimony.
At that hearing, Eastman referred to the plan to assemble alternate slates of electors to support Trump. The Trump attorney, according to court documents, told lawmakers that they had a “duty” to replace the slate of Democratic Party electors citing unfounded claims of voter fraud in the state.
It was Eastman who also pushed the strategy for then-Vice President Mike Pence, in his role as Senate president, to reject electors from seven states including Georgia when Congress counted Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2021. Pence refused to carry out the plan.
What did Trump do on Jan. 6?: A breakdown of the 187 minutes Trump was out of view on Jan. 6 as aides urged him to act
Eastman and his attorneys did not respond to inquiries about whether they intended to resist the Fulton County subpoena, though the former law professor fought demands for testimony and records from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
Earlier this year, a federal judge ordered Eastman to provide his emails to the committee as part of a stunning ruling, concluding “it is more likely than not that President Trump and Dr. Eastman dishonestly conspired to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021.”
Lindsey Graham’s lawyers call investigation ‘a fishing expedition’
Graham had been scheduled to appear before the Atlanta grand jury Aug. 23, but the South Carolina senator and Trump confidante is challenging the demand, arguing that a legislative privilege shields him from such scrutiny.
In a motion to quash the Fulton County summons, Graham is asserting that he was engaging in legitimate inquiries as a lawmaker when he contacted Georgia officials following the 2020 election.
Graham pushes back: Sen. Lindsey Graham challenges Georgia grand jury subpoena, asserts legislative privilege
The staunch Trump ally placed at least two telephone calls to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and members of his staff in the weeks following the November 2020 election, seeking additional scrutiny of the absentee ballots, according to court documents filed in support of the subpoena request.
“The Witness also made reference to allegations of widespread voter fraud in the November 2020 election in Georgia, consistent with public statements made by known affiliates of the Trump Campaign,” the court documents state.
Graham has previously denied claims that he was pressuring officials to exclude ballots, saying he was attempting to understand the method for which different states examine ballots.
“This is all politics,” Graham’s lawyers Bart Daniel and Matt Austin said last month.