The House committee investigating the assault on Capitol Hill issued subpoenas Tuesday to Rudy Giuliani and other members of Donald Trump’s post-election legal team who filed several lawsuits alleging voter fraud that were rejected by the courts, but promoted the lie that Trump did not really lose the 2020 presidential contest.
The commission continues to delve into Trump’s orbit, this time demanding information and testimony from Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell and Boris Epshteyn. All four publicly defended the president and his unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the months after the 2020 election.
“The four individuals we have served subpoenas today promoted unfounded theories of voter fraud, pushed for attempts to reverse election results, or were in direct contact with the former president about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes,” he said in a statement. A statement from Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the panel.
The commission noted that it requested records and affidavits from Giuliani in connection with his promotion of voter fraud claims on behalf of Trump. The panel is also seeking information about Giuliani’s alleged efforts to persuade state lawmakers to intervene to overturn the election results.
An attorney for Giuliani did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Giuliani took on a major role in contesting the election results on Trump’s behalf after the 2020 presidential election, even visiting states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, where he claimed the ballots “looked fishy” and that Biden’s electoral victory was a fraud.
To date, no court has found merit in the main legal claims brought by Trump, Giuliani and the three other people who were subpoenaed to appear Tuesday.
The nine-member panel also sought input from Trump’s legal adviser, Jenna Ellis, who lawmakers say prepared and distributed two memos discussing then-Vice President Mike Pence’s constitutional authority to reject or delay the counting of electoral votes from the states that had submitted alternative lists of voters.
In addition to Giuliani, Sidney Powell was another major public figure in Trump’s attempts to challenge the election results, making frequent appearances on behalf of the president.
The latest person called to appear is Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump campaign strategic adviser who allegedly attended meetings at the Willard Hotel in the days before the Capitol storming. The commission said Epshteyn spoke to Trump by phone on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, to discuss options for postponing the certification of election results in the event Pence was unwilling to slow down or delay the process.
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