Lindsey Graham, Rudy Giuliani among Trump allies subpoenaed in Georgia criminal probe

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rudy Giuliani, and five other allies of former President Donald Trump were subpoenaed on Tuesday to testify before a grand jury as part of the Fulton County, Georgia, investigation into election interference by Trump and people close to him.

The probe was launched in response to Trump's Jan. 2, 2021, phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), during which Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" the votes necessary to overturn Georgia's election results. President Biden won the state by 12,284 votes.

Subpoenas were also issued to lawyers John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Cleta Mitchell, Jacki Pick Deason, and Kenneth Chesebro. In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, Giuliani and Ellis traveled to different battleground states, including Georgia, in an attempt to overturn the results, with Giuliani showing Georgia lawmakers an edited video of ballots being tabulated in Atlanta. Although the video was debunked, Giuliani continued to show it publicly, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Eastman also spoke with Georgia lawmakers, telling them they had a "duty" to submit alternate electors, and Mitchell was on Trump's call to Raffensperger, while Graham called Raffensperger to ask him about rejecting absentee ballots, court filings show.

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The special grand jury, which first started meeting in May, will determine whether any state laws were broken and criminal charges should be filed. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has sent letters to possible witnesses telling them her office is looking into potential violations that include "the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local governmental bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office, and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election's administration."