Fulton County

Giuliani, Graham, several Trump associates asked to testify in front of Fulton County grand jury

NAACP sues Trump, Giuliani for Capitol insurrection In this Nov. 20, 2016, file photo, then-President-elect Donald Trump, right, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani pose for photographs as Giuliani arrives at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo, File)

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Fulton County grand jury wants to hear from seven close allies of former President Donald Trump, including Rudy Giuliani and South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham.

Channel 2′s Michael Seiden was in Fulton County, where Giuliani and Graham are among a host of Trump associates who are being compelled to testify in front of a jury in charge of investigating possible criminal interference in Georgia’s 2020 elections.

A judge signed off on seven certificates of material witnesses on Tuesday sent to Giuliani, Graham, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, Cleta Mitchell, Jenna Ellis and Jacki Deason.

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Giuliani was Trump’s personal lawyer and Graham was one of the former president’s top allies in the U.S. Senate. Eastman, Mitchell, Chesbro and Ellis all advised Trump on strategies to overturn President Joe Biden’s win in Georgia.

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Seiden talked to Darryl Cohen, a former prosecutor about the documents.

“This is not a subpoena saying, ‘You are the target of the investigation.’ That if you say the wrong thing, then you’ll be indicted,” Cohen said. “What it does say is, ‘We want to find out what it is that you have to say and you better testify under oath, truthfully.’”

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The documents were filed July 5 and each of the people outlined are asked to appear in front of the grand jury on July 12.

In the documents directed at Graham, Judge Robert McBurney says the senator is being asked to testify, in part because of two phone calls he made in November of 2020 to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In those calls, he asked Raffensperger to reexamine “certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump.”

The certificate directed at Giuliani references the fact that he was Trump’s personal attorney and testified about now-debunked instances of alleged voter fraud involving ballot boxes at State Farm Arena. Channel 2 was there in 2020 when Giuliana spent several hours speaking before state lawmakers and spreading false narratives and conspiracy theories about the “secret suitcases” and “corrupt” voting machines.

“(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,” the document says.

Documents filed for Chesebro accuses the attorney of working with the leadership of the Georgia Republican Party, including Chairman David Shafer, to install 16 “fake” electors to cast electoral college votes in favor of Trump, despite the fact that the individuals were not certified presidential electors for the state.

The DA’s office said the special grand jury is investigating whether Trump broke state law when he asked Raffensperger to find enough votes to overturn Georgia’s presidential election results which went in favor of Joe Biden.

A late January 2020 WSBTV.com report referred to a statement released by Trump saying, in part:

“My phone call to the Secretary of State of Georgia was perfect. I knew there were large numbers of people on the line, including numerous lawyers for both sides. I didn’t say anything wrong in the call, made while I was President on behalf of the United States of America, to look into the massive voter fraud which took place in Georgia.”

Fulton Co. Grand Jury reconvenes to investigate former Pres. Trump

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