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Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, in September
CNN
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Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been interviewed by federal investigators as part of the special counsel’s investigation into attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, multiple sources familiar with the meeting told CNN.
The meeting between Giuliani, his lawyer Robert Costello and investigators took place in recent weeks. The sources declined to say what the investigators’ questions focused on during the meeting, which had not been previously reported.
Special counsel Jack Smith has not announced any charges stemming from his investigation into attempts to block certification in the 2020 presidential election, but prosecutors appear to be close to deciding on charges, sources familiar with the case said.
The interview with Giuliani comes amid a flurry of activity in the investigation, which is looking into a scheme by Trump and his allies to impersonate voters, as well as potential financial crimes related to post-election fundraising. Investigators have called a steady stream of witnesses before a federal grand jury in recent weeks and pressed attorneys to quickly bring in other witnesses for interviews, sources told CNN.
Sources say some of the grand jury questioning has focused on the actions of top Trump lawyers, including Giuliani, as investigators seek information about their baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud.
Ted Goodman, a political adviser to Giuliani, told CNN that “the appearance was completely voluntary and conducted in a professional manner.”
A spokesman for the special counsel’s office declined to comment to CNN.
The special counsel’s office has long been interested in several members of Trump’s post-election legal team, including Giuliani, Sidney Powell and John Eastman, as well as former Justice Department appointee Jeffrey Clarke, who tried to help push Trump to use the Department of overturning the election.
Several rounds of federal subpoenas have sought the communications of more than a dozen lawyers — including Giuliani, Powell, Eastman and Clark — because of how central some lawyers have been to Trump’s post-election response.
At least some of the lawyers’ phones were seized by the FBI last year. The Justice Department filtered privileged communications of Eastman and Clark and others to deliver the documents to investigators’ lawyers, according to now-public court filings.
Trump’s White House counsel and then-Vice President Mike Pence’s top adviser at the time were also forced to testify despite their claims of attorney-client privilege.
CNN previously reported that Giuliani was subpoenaed late last year to turn over records to a federal grand jury as part of an investigation into the former president’s fundraising after the 2020 election.
The subpoena seeks documents from Giuliani about payments he received around the 2020 election, when Giuliani filed multiple lawsuits on Trump’s behalf challenging the election results, a source told CNN.
Giuliani also played a key role in overseeing the voter fraud conspiracy in seven battleground states, part of an effort to block the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.