Rudy Giuliani named a target in Trump Georgia election probe, lawyers say

Rudy Giuliani has been named a target in the criminal investigation into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, lawyers for Giuliani told CNBC on Monday.

Giuliani was Trump’s personal attorney and a leading figure in various attempts to challenge the former president’s electoral loss to President Joe Biden. He was seen as a leader of a pro-Trump legal team that filed numerous failed lawsuits seeking to block or overturn election results in battleground states. Outside of court, he pushed an array of false election conspiracy theories.

He has reportedly become a central character in the probe led by Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis. This summer, a special grand jury in the probe heard prosecutors question witnesses about Giuliani’s December 2020 appearance before Georgia lawmakers, where he spread various claims of election fraud and urged officials to appoint pro-Trump electors in the state, The New York Times reported.

Giuliani is scheduled to appear before that grand jury in an Atlanta courthouse on Monday, according to the newspaper.

The Times first reported that Giuliani is a target in the probe. Robert Costello, an attorney for Giuliani, confirmed to CNBC in an email that another member of Giuliani’s legal team, Bill Thomas, had received that news in a call from a prosecutor.

Costello told the Times that Giuliani will likely invoke executive privilege if he is asked about his dealings with Trump.

Earlier Monday, a federal judge denied a request by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to throw out a subpoena for his testimony before the Fulton County grand jury. The subpoena requires Graham, who is a witness in the probe, to appear before the grand jury on Aug. 23.