Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and two other allies of former President Donald Trump who promulgated election fraud claims about the 2020 presidential election and worked to delay or overturn the results are being subpoenaed by the House select committee examining the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Jenna Ellis, a Trump campaign lawyer, and Boris Epshteyn, a Trump adviser, also received subpoenas. They are all required to produce documents by Feb. 1 and sit for an interview Feb. 8.
“The four individuals we’ve subpoenaed today advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results, or were in direct contact with the former President about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes,” Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement.
Giuliani, as personal attorney for Trump, went on a tour falsely alleging the election was stolen, pointing out unsubstantiated theories about election corruption in states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania. Between mid-November 2020 and Jan. 6, 2021, Giuliani sought to convince state legislators to make efforts to overturn the election results and pushed legal challenges.
Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, also was reportedly in touch with Trump and members of Congress to discuss tactics to overturn or delay the election results, the committee said. He was suspended from practicing law in New York by the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court for communicating “demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts,” among other transgressions.
Powell, a Trump campaign lawyer, also pushed lies about the election being stolen and worked to promote those election fraud claims through filing lawsuits and public appearances. The committee wants the evidence Powell used to make those false allegations. The panel noted that a federal court imposed monetary sanctions against her and referred her to the State Bar of Texas for possible disbarment related to her election fraud claims.
In December of 2020, Powell, according to public reporting, urged Trump to seize voting machines around the nation to find evidence that foreign adversaries corrupted the election by hacking the machines.
Ellis, the committee said, citing public reporting, circulated two memos exploring the constitutional authority for the vice president to reject or delay counting electoral votes from states that submitted an alternative roster of electors.
Epshteyn, the committee said, reportedly attended meetings at the Willard Hotel leading up to the insurrection and participated in a phone call with Trump the morning of Jan. 6 to talk about options for delaying the election certification if then-Vice President Mike Pence did not deny or delay the process.
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