Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, backed out of an interview slated for Friday with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot after being told he couldn’t record it.
Giuliani is continuing negotiations with the committee, his lawyer, Robert Costello, told CNN.
The select committee has issued a subpoena compelling Giuliani’s appearance and expects him to comply, despite his objections, spokesperson Tim Mulvey said in a statement to several news organizations on Thursday. Subpoenas for Giuliani and several other former Trump advisers were issued in January.
“Mr. Giuliani had agreed to participate in a transcribed interview with the Select Committee,” Mulvey said, according to The Associated Press. “He informed committee investigators that he wouldn’t show up unless he was permitted to record the interview, which was never an agreed-upon condition.”
Mulvey warned there would be consequences if Giuliani fails to cooperate.
“Mr. Giuliani is an important witness to the conspiracy to overthrow the government and he remains under subpoena,” Mulvey said. “If he refuses to comply the committee will consider all enforcement options.”
Giuliani has been a prominent proponent of Trump’s election lies, spewing unfounded claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
During a sworn deposition in August, obtained by CNN, Giuliani said he didn’t “have time” to vet evidence for his claims about election fraud and Dominion Voting Systems. The company sued him for defamation in January 2021, for statements accusing the company of interfering with votes.
“It’s not my job, in a fast-moving case, to go out and investigate every piece of evidence that was given to me,” Giuliani said. “Otherwise, you’re never going to write a story. You’ll never come to a conclusion.”
Giuliani also reportedly helped mastermind a scheme to forge election certificates by fake Republican electors affirming Trump the winner in five battleground states he actually lost.
The House committee has interviewed almost 1,000 witnesses, including most recently Donald Trump Jr., as it pieces together events around the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.