Rudy Giuliani is seeking a delay of his testimony before a Georgia grand jury about efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election citing recovery from a recent medical procedure. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump's personal attorney, is seeking to delay testimony about efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election his lawyers say he is recovering from a medical procedure.
Attorneys for Giuliani plan to challenge the subpoena for him to appear before a special grand jury in Georgia's Fulton County on Tuesday, saying he is recovering from a "recent invasive procedure" after a "complex artery diagnosis" and has not yet been cleared for air travel.
Giuliani's lawyers are set to appear before Fulton Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, roughly the same time he was set to deliver his testimony.
Last month, New York State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber ordered Giuliani to testify before the 23-person Georgia grand jury about appearances in December 2020 before Georgia's state Senate where he and lawyer John Eastman blamed Trump's loss to Democrat Joe Biden on disproven claims of widespread voter fraud.
A filing by Giuliani's legal team on Monday said the Fulton County District Attorney's office has turned down offers to allow Giuliani to testify virtually or wait until he is cleared to fly to Atlanta.
"Mr. Giuliani is in no way seeking to inappropriately delay or obstruct these proceedings or avoid giving evidence or testimony that is not subject to some claim of privilege in this matter," Attorney Bill Thomas said.
Will Wooten, an assistant district attorney for Fulton County, wrote that the DA's office does not "consent to change the date."
"We expect to see your client before the grand jury on Aug. 9, 2022, here in Atlanta," Wooten wrote.
District Attorney Fani Willis said that Giuliani's lawyers presented a doctor's note seeking the delay a day after Giuliani tweeted a photo of himself smiling alongside an entertainment reporter in New Hampshire.
Thomas said Giuliani traveled to New Hampshire by car, while the DA's office noted it had offered to pay for train or bus fare.
Willis' office also noted that it had "obtained records" showing Giuliani purchased "multiple airline tickets" including to Rome, Italy and Switzerland for dates ranging between July 22, 2022, and July 29, 2022.
"All of these dates were after the witness's medical procedure," Willis said.
Robert Costello, an attorney for Giuliani, said that Giuliani "did not and has not flown anywhere following his surgery."
