Rudy Giuliani Bemoans 'Fascist State' Ahead Of Georgia Grand Jury Testimony

Donald Trump's former lawyer is a target of Georgia’s probe into the Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election results.
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Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, decried what he described as “the fascist state” as he prepared to testify Wednesday before a Georgia grand jury investigating the Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results.

Giuliani, who was notified this week that he’s a target of the special grand jury investigation, told Newsmax his troubles show “a further desecration of the Sixth Amendment,” which grants defendants a right to counsel, among others.

“I was his lawyer of record in that case,” Giuliani said Monday of Trump, according to The Hill. “The statements that I made are either attorney-client privilege, because they were between me and him, or they were being made on his behalf in order to defend him.”

He continued: “When you start turning around lawyers into defendants when they’re defending their clients, we’re starting to live in a fascist state. Look, I’ve already had my law office raided. I never thought I’d ever see that happen.”

Giuliani’s Manhattan home and office was searched in July 2021 in a Justice Department investigation into his business dealings in Ukraine. He’s unlikely to be charged in that probe.

Giuliani unsucessfully tried to delay his appearance in Georgia, claiming recent heart surgery wouldn’t allow him to fly to Atlanta. The Fulton County judge overseeing the special grand jury told Giuliani to find another means of travel, according to The Associated Press.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asserted in petitioning to compel Giuliani’s testimony that he operated both as Trump’s personal attorney and the lead lawyer for the campaign’s efforts to overturn election results.

Giuliani presented a video to state senators purporting to show election workers in Atlanta bringing “suitcases” of fake ballots, Willis said. Georgia’s secretary of state quickly debunked the video, but Giuliani continued peddling election lies, Willis said.

“The witness possesses unique knowledge concerning communications between himself, former President Trump, the Trump Campaign, and other known and unknown individuals involved in the multi-state, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere,” Willis wrote in the petition. His testimony “is essential in that it is likely to reveal additional sources of information regarding the subject of this investigation.”

Giuliani’s lawyer, Robert Costello, said there’s no chance Giuliani will testify about his exchanges with the former president.

“If these people think he’s going to talk about conversations between him and President Trump, they’re delusional,” Costello told The New York Times.

Another legal adviser for the Trump campaign, Jenna Ellis, also has been ordered to testify before the grand jury, according to AP. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) received a similar order, which he is expected to appeal.

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