22-05-24, 15:27
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2020 Election FRAUD Arizona -Giuliani & 9 Others Charged -Plead NOT Guilty
Rudy Giuliani Pleads NOT Guilty to Charges in Arizona Fake Electors Case
Former New York mayor one of 12 defendants charged with illegally trying to keep Trump in power after 2020 election defeat
The Guardian 22 MAY 2024
Rudy Giuliani; the Republican National Committee senior counsel for “election integrity” Christina Bobb; and nine Arizonans who served as fake Trump electors in 2020 pleaded not guilty to criminal charges on Tuesday.
Eighteen Trump allies were charged; Trump himself is listed as “unindicted co-conspirator 1” in the case.
Giuliani, who’d spent weeks ducking getting served his subpoena, was the only one of the group ordered to post bond ahead of his next appearance; he’ll have to pony up $10,000 as assurance that he’ll show up for booking within the next 30 days.
Other defendants are expected to be arraigned next month, including Trump attorney and adviser Boris Epshsteyn, who has been at his boss’s side for much of Trump’s New York trial including on Tuesday, and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Others charged over their roles as false electors include two sitting lawmakers, state senators Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern. The former Arizona Republican party chair Kelli Ward and her husband, Michael Ward, have been charged, as has Tyler Bowyer, a Republican national committeeman, and Turning Point USA executive, and Jim Lamon, who ran for US Senate in 2022.
The others charged in the fake electors scheme are Nancy Cottle, Robert Montgomery, Samuel Moorhead, Lorraine Pellegrino and Gregory Safsten.
Further defendants are expected to be arraigned next month, including Boris Epshteyn, a lawyer for Trump, and Mark Meadows, a former White House chief of staff.
Trump himself is listed as “un-indicted co-conspirator 1” in the case but has not been charged
Before receiving the indictment, Giuliani, the former New York mayor and the legal spearhead of Trump’s lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, had taunted the Arizona officials by posting a picture of himself on X challenging them to drop the case.
“If Arizona authorities can’t find me by tomorrow morning: 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they can’t count votes,” he captioned the post, which has since been deleted.
After being served his indictment, Giuliani posted on Facebook that he did not know that Arizona officials were looking for him until “somebody told me there was a news article saying they were having a hard time finding me”.
The indictment alleged that Giuliani “pressured” Arizona legislators and the Maricopa county board of supervisors to change the election result in the state, which Joe Biden won by more than 10,000 votes.
He is also accused of urging Republican electors in Arizona to vote for Trump, in the face of the popular vote counts showing a victory for Biden.
According to the testimony of Rusty Bowers, a former speaker of the Arizona house of representatives, Giuliani, in his efforts to persuade the state legislature to overturn the 2020 vote, told him and legislators that “we don’t have the evidence but we have lots of theories”.
The case is the latest in a spate of legal woes to beset Giuliani – a former federal prosecutor once renowned for fighting mafia organised crime bosses – over his attempts to help Trump overturn the 2020 poll.
He has filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $148m in damages to two election workers in Georgia after they successfully sued for defamation.
'I Don't Want to MUTE You': Judge interrupts Rudy Giuliani during court rant
Rudy Giuliani served with indictment papers just after mocking Arizona case
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