WASHINGTON — Rudy Giuliani will now not meet Friday with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, his lawyer confirmed.
The last-minute change, lawyer Robert Costello mentioned, got here after the House committee denied a request to report the scheduled interview. Costello mentioned he made the request upfront so there could be no allegation of covertly recording Giuliani’s testimony.
Costello mentioned it is now as much as the committee easy methods to proceed.
Giuliani’s canceled appearance was beforehand reported by CNN.
In an announcement Thursday, committee spokesperson Tim Mulvey mentioned Giuliani had agreed to take part in a transcribed interview however “informed committee investigators that he wouldn’t show up unless he was permitted to record the interview, which was never an agreed-upon condition.”
“Mr. Giuliani is an important witness to the conspiracy to overthrow the government and he remains under subpoena,” Mulvey mentioned. “If he refuses to comply the committee will consider all enforcement options.”
The committee subpoenaed Giuliani and three different allies of former President Donald Trump in January over efforts to overturn the 2020 election outcomes. The panel recognized Giuliani, the previous mayor of New York, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell and Boris Epshteyn as among the many most ardent promoters of Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.
The committee mentioned its curiosity in Giuliani, Trump’s former lawyer, stemmed from his efforts to, amongst different issues, “convince state legislators to take steps to overturn the election results.” Giuliani was in touch with Trump and members of Congress “regarding strategies for delaying or overturning the results of the 2020 election,” the subpoena states.
Failing to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee may immediate the panel to suggest that Giuliani face a contempt cost, a course of that will contain a House vote. The committee took comparable steps with former White House strategist Steve Bannon and ex-White House chief of workers Mark Meadows.