Former President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani has been subpoenaed in the investigation into the storming of the Capitol in January last year. The committee investigating the events on behalf of the House of Representatives wants to hear him on February 8. Two other Trump attorneys, Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis, and a political adviser have also been summoned.
The commission says they were spreading false theories about voter fraud, trying to change the election results, or being in direct contact with Trump over the attempt to stop the vote counting.
In the days following the November 2020 election, Trump’s legal team filed dozens of lawsuits alleging large-scale fraud. The judges in the various cases did not agree, even senior officials from the Trump administration called it a lie.
Release the Kraken
Powell, Giuliani and Ellis spoke together at a Trump press conference on Nov. 19, just days after the election. They vowed to take Biden’s winnings. Powell then said: “I’m going to release the Kraken“, “I’m going to release the Kraken”. That’s a famous quote from the movie Clash of the Titans, which refers to a mythological sea monster that is unleashed and causes chaos.
By releasing documents about the election, she wanted to show that Biden had fraudulently seized the win. Once made public, it turned out that some allegations were without evidence. Other allegations did not hold up in court.
‘Political theatre’
A judge ruled on Giuliani in June that he had shared demonstrably false and misleading information about electoral fraud. His New York attorney’s license was subsequently revoked. Giuliani’s lawyer now says the subpoena is “political theater” and there is nothing his client can testify about in the House of Representatives.
The committee already received permission from the judge in November to view White House documents from around the storming. This includes telephone records, visitor logs, handwritten notes and confidential conversations with employees. The commission plans to present an interim report on the storming this summer and a final report in the fall.
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