Giuliani sat for a voluntary interview in January 6 inquiry
Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was former President Donald J. Trump’s personal attorney, was interviewed last week by federal prosecutors investigating Mr. Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, people familiar with the case.
The voluntary interview, which took place under what is known as an offer agreement, was a major development in the election interference investigation led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, and the latest indication that Mr Smith and his team are actively seeking witnesses who could participate in the case.
The session with Mr. Giuliani, those familiar with it said, covered some of the most important aspects of the Special Counsel’s investigation into ways Mr. Trump sought to maintain his grip on power after electing Joseph R. Biden had lost. Jr.
“The performance was entirely voluntary and was conducted in a professional manner,” said Ted Goodman, a political adviser to Mr Giuliani.
An offer agreement is an agreement between prosecutors and people who are the subject of criminal investigations and may precede a formal cooperation agreement. The subjects agree to provide useful information to the government, sometimes to tell their side of events, to avert potential charges, or to avoid being subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury. In return, prosecutors agree not to use those statements against them in future criminal proceedings unless they are found to be lying.
Prosecutors before Mr. Smith, asked Mr. Giuliani to a plan to fake lists of pro-Trump voters in key swing states that were actually won by Mr. Biden, a person familiar with the matter said, spoke on condition of anonymity to talk of an ongoing criminal investigation. They focused specifically on the role of John Eastman, another lawyer who advised Trump on ways to stay in office after his defeat.
Mr Giuliani also discussed Sidney Powell, a lawyer briefly involved with Mr Trump’s campaign who made baseless claims about a cabal of foreign actors hacking voting machines to steal Mr Trump’s election, the person said.
Ms. Powell, who was penalized by a federal judge for promoting conspiracy theories about the voting machines, also took part in a rally in the Oval Office in December 2020 where Mr. Trump was presented with a brutal plan — opposed by Mr. to take control of voting machines and rerun the elections.
The person said prosecutors further questioned Mr. Giuliani about the scene at the Willard Hotel days before the attack on the Capitol. Mr. Giuliani and a group of close Trump advisers — including Mr. Eastman, former chief strategist of Mr. Trump Stephen K. Bannon, and Mr. Trump’s current adviser Boris Epshteyn — had gathered at the hotel, near the White House. House, to discuss strategies before a violent mob stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, disrupting the certification of Mr Biden’s victory over Mr Trump.
The offering session with Mr. Giuliani, elements of which were previously reported by CNNcame as Mr Smith’s team continued its investigation into Mr Trump’s election interference as it prepared to face trial against the former president on separate charges of endangering national security secrets and obstructing attempts by the government to recover classified documents.
Prosecutors have brought witnesses before a grand jury and conducted separate interviews with others to get a fuller picture of the various ways Mr. Trump and his allies propagated baseless claims that the election was stolen from him and sought to improve his electoral undo defeat.
In some cases, they appear to be gauging whether they can elicit useful information without necessarily agreeing to formal cooperation agreements.
Last week, The New York Times reported that prosecutors were negotiating a proposal deal with Michael Roman, the former director of election day operations for Mr. Trump’s 2020 campaign. Mr. Roman also played a key role in drafting of the so-called fake electoral plan.
The push to compile slates of pro-Trump voters from swing states won by Mr. Biden is one component of Mr. Smith’s investigation. Prosecutors also scrutinized whether Mr. Trump and his allies defrauded donors by fundraising through false claims of voter fraud, investigated attempts to use the Justice Department to lend credence to claims of voter fraud, and tried paint a detailed picture of the role being played. by Mr. Trump in instigating the attack on the Capitol and the disruption of congressional certification of his loss.
It remains unclear whether Mr. Giuliani will be charged in the Special Prosecutor’s investigation. He is also under scrutiny on many of the same issues by the Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney, who is conducting an extensive investigation into Mr. Trump’s attempt to reverse his election loss in that swing state.
As part of Mr Smith’s investigation, prosecutors questioned Mr Roman’s deputy, Gary Michael Brown, last week before a grand jury in Washington’s Federal District Court investigating Mr Trump’s and his allies to overturn the election. . Federal prosecutors will also interview Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, on Wednesday, who took a call from Mr Trump in early January 2021 asking him to “find” enough votes that would put him above the list. top in the elections in that state.
Mr. Giuliani, a longtime ally of Mr. Trump who served two terms as mayor of New York, actually led the former president’s efforts to reverse his defeat in the last presidential race and has been a major focus in the media for months. broad investigation by the Ministry of Justice into the post-election period. His name has appeared on several subpoenas sent to former aides of Mr. Trump and to a large number of Republican state officials implicated in the scheme to create false voter rolls.
Last year, shortly before Mr. Smith was appointed as special counsel, the Justice Department has appointed Mr. Giuliani subpoenaed for documents related to his representation of Mr. Trump, including those detailing any payments he had received. A group of federal prosecutors, including Thomas Windom, had continued various parts of the investigation into Mr Trump’s attempts to stay in power prior to Mr Smith’s nomination and they continue to play a key role in the investigation.
Among the things prosecutors have investigated are the inner workings of Mr. Trump’s fundraising tool, Save America PAC. According to a person familiar with the matter, the documents subpoenaed by Mr. Giuliani could include some relating to payments made by the PAC.
More recently, prosecutors have questioned Mr Trump’s false claims that his defeat in the election was caused by widespread fraud, and how he aggressively raised money on those claims. Prosecutors have weighed in on whether those around Mr. Trump knew he had lost the race, yet continued to collect money from the fraud claims.
The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol first publicly questioned Mr. Trump’s fundraising efforts, and the special counsel’s team picked up on that thread. Among other questions they have asked witnesses is whether their lawyers are being paid by the political action committee that became a repository for money raised from Mr. Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud.
Investigators ran a timeline with various witnesses, including asking people about election night and what Mr. Giuliani may have told Mr. Trump before his defiant speech declaring he won the election, as well as about Jan. 6 and that of Mr Trump. actions that day.
The special counsel’s office has focused on Mr Trump’s mindset and who told him he lost, according to people familiar with the questions. One of the questions was whether concerns had been raised among people working with the campaign about the language used in television advertisements about fraud in December 2020, and who signed the ad copy.
Prosecutors also subpoenaed former Vice President Mike Pence, who was a key focus in Mr Trump’s efforts to stay in power as Mr Trump tried to pressure him to use his ceremonial role as a congressional certification overseer to avoid Mr Biden being certified.