(RepublicanInformer.com)- The House’s special committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol building has subpoenaed Rudy Giuliani, and it appears the former personal lawyer for former President Donald Trump is going to cooperate.
The New York Times reported recently that it’s not yet clear what exactly Giuliani is going to provide the committee, and it’s also possible that negotiations — which are still ongoing — could fall apart at any time.
To this point, though, Giuliani has indicated through his own lawyer that he won’t take as confrontational a stance toward the subpoena as Trump himself has to the investigation at large. Many of the other members of Trump’s inner circle have stayed loyal to him and have refused to comply with the subpoenas.
Giuliani was subpoenaed last month, and his initial signals that he plans to comply could be an indication that he wants to avoid a legal fight that could get very costly for him, the Times reported.
The media outlet also wrote that if Giuliani were to comply in some form, it would be harder for the panel to refer him to the Department of Justice for criminal charges of contempt of Congress — as they successfully did for Steve Bannon.
The committee is hoping to get the cooperation of at least one of the former members of Trump’s inner circle. Getting Giuliani to provide them any information would certainly be a major win for the committee, which hasn’t experienced many of these wins thus far.
The Times cited a source familiar with the situation who said Giuliani was still in the process of negotiating whether he’ll give an informal interview with investigators or whether he’ll give a formal deposition. The source also said Giuliani hadn’t made a decision yet on how many details and information he’d be giving to the committee or attempting to shield from them using either attorney-client privilege or executive privilege as a defense.
One of the aides for a member of the committee said they wouldn’t be commenting on ongoing negotiations with Giuliani or any other witness. However, the aide did confirm that at Giuliani’s request, the committee did reschedule his initial deposition from last Tuesday.
The aide also added the committee is pressing Giuliani to “cooperate fully” with their investigation and subpoena.
Whatever Giuliani decides to do in the end, his actions to this point are significantly different than some other loyal allies to Trump.
Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff of the White House, initially cooperated with the panel but then went back on his word. The committee has since referred the case to the DOJ for possible criminal charges.
Steve Bannon was indicted on those same criminal charges back in November after he refused to provide any information to the committee, citing executive privilege. Bannon is set to go to trial over those charges in the summer.
But, getting Giuliani to testify would be a huge coup for the committee, which has for months been trying to get someone on Trump’s team to cave to their demands.
