Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, some friends of former President Donald Trump, and people who are said to be fake electors all pleaded not guilty in Maricopa County court on Tuesday for trying to change the results of the 2020 election in Arizona.
In addition to those charged today, former Trump lawyer Christina Bobb, Arizona state Sen. Anthony Kern, and Kelli Ward, who used to be chair of the Arizona Republican Party, and her husband Michael Ward were also brought before the judge.
After his 80th birthday party on Friday night, Giuliani was served with notice of his arrest. He then went on social media to brag that he had gotten around to being served.
The prosecution asked the judge to condition Giuliani’s release so that he had to be booked in Arizona within 30 days and post a $10,000 secured appearance bond. The judge agreed. This came after the state told the court that Giuliani had “shown no intent to comply with legal process” by refusing to accept service of the indictment.
The prosecutors specifically asked for a cash bond, but the judge let Giuliani post a secured one instead.
The prosecutors called Giuliani “uncooperative” and said he knew about the charge. In response, Giuliani said over Zoom, “I haven’t been hiding from anyone.” He said it was hard for him to accept service because of the threats he had been facing. He said that the charge was a “complete embarrassment.”
A few times, the judge stopped Giuliani because he was going on and on about supposed threats that had been made against him in the past. The judge said, “I don’t want to have to mute you.”
A prosecutor for the Arizona Attorney General’s office named Nicholas Klingerman talked about how many times they tried to serve Giuliani and how the former mayor was “mocking the justice system in Arizona.”
When Klingerman was asked about Giuliani’s claims during the hearing that the case is “politically motivated,” he said, “The indictment speaks for itself.”
“I think it’s fairly clear from the indictment what the allegations are,” he said.
Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s spokesman, said in a statement on Tuesday, “These charges are a cut-and-paste version of what they’re trying to use to interfere with the 2024 Election and to bring down President Trump and anyone willing to take on the permanent Washington political class.” It is still Joe Biden and his friends’ plan to use the criminal justice system as a weapon to get rid of President Trump and keep power. “Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was the best federal prosecutor in U.S. history, is looking forward to being cleared soon.”
John Eastman, a former lawyer for Trump, was the first friend of the former president to be charged in the case last week.
Last month, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said that 11 named alleged fake electors and seven people whose names are grayed out in the filing would be charged with trying to stop Joe Biden’s 2020 win in the state.
Fraud, forgery, and conspiracy are some of the claims.
Arizona is the third state to file claims of election interference for the 2020 election. In December, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said that six people he thought were “fake electors” would be charged with felonies.
In July, Attorney General Dana Nessel of Michigan charged 16 “alternate electors” with trying to work together to forge documents, among other things.
Along with Trump, 18 other people were charged with racketeering for allegedly trying to change the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. Three of these “fake electors” were charged in Georgia.
In all three investigations, everyone who was charged has pleaded not guilty. In Georgia, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, and Scott Hall all took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to appear in that case. In Michigan, the attorney general dropped all charges against Jim Renner as a reward for his help.
