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Rudy Giuliani speaks to reporters on January 21, 2024 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
CNN
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Rudy Giuliani was served with a notice of indictment related to an alleged conspiracy to overturn Arizona’s 2020 election results on Friday, Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays said.
“The last defendant was just sent to me,” Democrat Mays said in a post to X in which Giuliani was tagged. “@RudyGiuliani No one is above the law.”
A summons is a formal notice that a defendant has been charged with a crime and must appear before a judge. Mr. Mays’ press secretary, Richie Taylor, previously told CNN that the attorney general’s office had been trying to find Mr. Giuliani for several weeks.
Carolyn Wren, a Republican operative and adviser to Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, told CNN that Giuliani’s 80th birthday was held Friday night in Palm Beach, Fla., where the former New York City mayor was inaugurated. He said he would be hosting a party.
Party attendees told CNN that late at night after the birthday party, Giuliani was given documents by two employees of the Arizona attorney general’s office. “They attacked him on his way out,” one attendee said, adding that “many of the guests were clearly upset.”
“The mayor was unfazed by the decision to embarrass him at his 80th birthday party,” Giuliani’s spokesman Ted Goodman said. We had a great night with these people and we look forward to being completely exonerated soon.”
CNN has reached out to Mays’ office for comment.
On Friday night, Giuliani tweeted a photo of himself surrounded by mocking messages and smiling friends. “If Arizona authorities don’t find me by tomorrow morning,” he wrote in a now-deleted tweet. They must dismiss the charges. 2. They must admit that they cannot count the votes. ”
Hours later, Mr. Giuliani received notice of the indictment.
Mr. Giuliani is scheduled to appear for arraignment in Phoenix on Tuesday unless the court grants a postponement.
Giuliani is among a group of allies of former President Donald Trump who were indicted in Arizona last month, along with 11 others who pretended to be the state’s fake Republican electors in the 2020 presidential election.
The person, identified by CNN as Giuliani, alleges in the indictment that he spread false claims of voter fraud across the country after the 2020 election and that Arizona officials “made no effort to investigate” whether the votes were accurate. It is described as making false claims and encouraging “Republicans.” Electors in Arizona and six other swing states need to vote for Trump vs. Pence on December 14, 2020. ”
Former Trump lawyer John Eastman appeared in court as the first defendant charged in the Arizona case. He pleaded not guilty Friday in Phoenix to charges that he was involved in a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Arizona. Others, including Mr. Giuliani, are expected to follow in the coming weeks.
The Arizona charges are just the latest legal predicament for Mr. Giuliani, stemming from his time as Mr. Trump’s lawyer after the 2020 presidential election. He filed for bankruptcy in federal court in New York in December, days after a jury ordered him to pay nearly $150 million for making defamatory comments about two former Georgia election officials. .
Mr. Giuliani is also an unindicted co-conspirator in Mr. Trump’s federal election destruction case and faces 13 charges in the Georgia election destruction case, as well as falsely claiming that the 2020 election was stolen by voting technology. He is being sued for defamation by both Dominion and Smartmatic.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.
