Rudy Giuliani may testify before Jan. 6 committee — subpoena issued last month

A subpoena was issued to Donald Trump's former attorney last month — and he may want to avoid a legal battle

By Kelly McClure

Nights & Weekends Editor

Published February 13, 2022 3:07PM (EST)

Rudy Giuliani (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Rudy Giuliani (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The House select committee investigating the timeline of the Jan. 6 insurrection may be hearing testimony from former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani, who was issued a subpoena last month.

Giuliani, who was former President Trump's lawyer, allegedly plans to take a less confrontational stance to the inquiry than has been the case with others from Trump's circle, according to The New York Times. It's further proposed that Giuliani is leaning towards cooperation to avoid a legal fight resulting from the previously mentioned subpoena he received last month. If he does follow through with testifying it will lessen the chances of him being found in contempt of Congress for non-compliance.

Related: Rudy Giuliani revealed to be mastermind behind scheme to install bogus Trump electors: report

Several unnamed sources referenced in The New York Times report are said to have offered insight on Giuliani's possibilities leading up to his possible testimony. One source says that Giuliani is vacillating between providing an informal interview or a formal deposition. Regardless of which option he chooses, if he does testify it will put him in direct opposition of Trump who he was, at one time, so closely aligned with.


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Giuliani was scheduled to appear before the panel last week for a deposition, but was allowed to reschedule it, according to a committee aide. The penalty of consequence looms heavily over the former mayor's decision faced with the fact that Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and former aide, Stephen K. Bannon have both received punishment for not complying with requests to testify themselves. Meadows has been referred to the Justice Department for possible criminal charges, and Bannon was indicted in November for refusing to provide information. 

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By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Nights and Weekends Editor covering daily news, politics and culture. Her work has been featured in Vulture, The A.V. Club, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, Nylon, Vice, and elsewhere. She is the author of Something is Always Happening Somewhere.

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Aggregate Donald Trump Jan. 6 Committee Rudy Giuliani