ATLANTA — Rudolph W. Giuliani, the lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and a central figure in the Georgia election interference investigation, has been telling prosecutors he cannot travel to the state to appear before a grand jury special because he is not healthy enough to fly.
But on Tuesday, a judge in Fulton County, Ga., said Mr. Giuliani, who had two coronary stents implanted in early July, could travel from New York to Atlanta by another means and temporarily ordered to be presented for delivery. eyewitness account on August 17.
“Mr. Giuliani is not authorized to travel by plane, AIR,” said Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert CI McBurney. “John Madden drove all over the country in his big bus, from stadium to stadium. So one thing we need to explore is whether Mr. Giuliani could make it this far without jeopardizing his recovery and health. On a train, on a bus or Uber, or whatever,” he said, adding, “New York is nowhere near Atlanta, but it’s not traveling from Fairbanks.”
At a hearing on Tuesday afternoon, the judge also told prosecutors they would have to inform Mr. Giuliani, 78, if he was a target of the criminal investigation. The office of Fani T. Willis, the Atlanta-area district attorney, has already told at least 17 other people, including a pair of state senators and the head of the state Republican Party, that they are targets.
If Mr. Giuliani is found to be a target, that could lead him to invoke his Fifth Amendment right and refuse to testify after taking a long road trip. Let Mr. Giuliani up front, the judge said, would provide some clarity on “the impact he has on the scope of his time before the grand jury.”
It covers the Georgia Trump investigation
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It covers the Georgia Trump investigation
An immediate legal threat to Trump. Atlanta District Attorney Fani T. Willis has been investigating whether former President Donald J. Trump and his allies interfered in the 2020 election in Georgia. The case could be one of the most dangerous legal problems for Mr. Trump. Here’s what you need to know:
It covers the Georgia Trump investigation
What are prosecutors looking at? In addition to the call from Mr. Trump to Mr. Raffensperger, Mrs. Willis has focused on a plot by Trump allies to send bogus Georgia voters to Washington and misrepresentations about election results made by Mr. Giuliani before the state legislature in December 2020.
The judge also said he could reconsider the August 17 date if Mr. Giuliani’s doctor presented a compelling enough medical excuse.
William H. Thomas Jr., attorney for Mr. Giuliani told the audience that his client would be open to a remote interview via Zoom. Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor who works for the district attorney, said the office was not interested and preferred that Mr. Giuliani appeared in person.
Mr. Giuliani’s role in the effort to reverse Mr. Trump’s 2020 election defeat in Georgia is of interest to Fulton County prosecutors for several reasons. As part of the closed-door grand jury proceedings, they have questioned several witnesses about Mr. Giuliani’s appearances before a pair of state legislative panels after the 2020 vote, in which he made a series of false allegations of voter fraud. Mr. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, also participated in a scheme to create lists of fake pro-Trump presidential electors in several swing states. The calling of these electors in Georgia is another subject of Ms. Willis.
The lawyers of Mr. Giuliani had tried to delay any in-person appearance in Atlanta and produced a doctor’s note this week advising him not to fly anywhere because of the stent procedure. Ms. Willis replied that Mr. Giuliani had recently traveled out of state to New Hampshire and had also purchased plane tickets to Europe.
The lawyers of Mr. Giuliani said he had traveled out of state by car and that the plane tickets were bought by planners for a conference that was eventually canceled. (“That trip never happened,” Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers said in court papers.)
Judge McBurney said Mr. Giuliani had plenty of time to get from New York to Atlanta, suggesting he could break a 13-hour road trip into segments. “Maybe go down to Washington, as the first part, and reconnect with people there, and then travel a few more hours.”