PHOENIX (AP) — A former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani He pleaded not guilty Tuesday to nine felony charges stemming from his role in trying to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden in Arizona.
Giuliani appeared remotely for the hearing in a Phoenix courtroom. His trial will be held in October.
Former Arizona Republican Party Chairman Kelly Ward and at least 11 others were arraigned Tuesday. Conspiracy, Fraud and Fraud Charges in a Phoenix courtroom. She and nine others have so far pleaded not guilty. His trial date is set for October 17, about 3 weeks before the US election.
During his remote appearance, Giuliani said he does not have an attorney at this time. Asked by the court whether he needed appointed counsel for the trial, Giuliani said: “No, no, I think I can handle it myself.”
Giuliani said he received the summons but did not have a copy of the indictment. However, he said he was familiar with the allegations by reading about them.
Arizona authorities have tried unsuccessfully for weeks to serve notice of the indictment against Giuliani. Giuliani was there Finally served He was driving after his 80th birthday party in Florida on Friday night.
On Tuesday, after outlining the difficulty of serving Giuliani in the case, in response to prosecutors’ request for a $10,000 bond, Giuliani said: “I’ve had a fair number of threats, including death threats, and I’m not safe … so I’m very concerned about who gets up and who doesn’t.” There are strict rules.
The judge ordered Giuliani to post a $10,000 secured appearance bond and appear in Arizona within the next 30 days for booking procedures.
Last month, Arizona officials unsealed criminal charges against Republicans who submitted documents to Congress that falsely claimed Trump, a Republican, had won Arizona. The defendants include five lawyers associated with the former president and two former Trump aides. Biden, a Democrat, Arizona won Over 10,000 votes.
Ward, a former state senator who led the GOP in Arizona from 2019 to early 2023, urged then-Vice President Mike Pence to round up the fake voters and declare them the state’s real voters. While none of the legal challenges changed the outcome of the presidential race in Arizona, it says Ward failed to return a vote as a fraudulent voter.
Last week, attorney John Eastman laid out a strategy to persuade Congress not to certify the election. Innocent to the charges.
Trump was not charged in the Arizona case, but was named as an unindicted co-conspirator.
Arizona is the fourth state to indict associates of a former president for using false or unproven claims about election-related voter fraud.
Eleven self-proclaimed Republican voters of Arizona met in Phoenix on December 14, 2020, and signed affidavits declaring that they were “duly elected and qualified” voters and had accepted Trump’s administration. A One minute video The Arizona Republican Party posted the signing ceremony on social media at the time. The document was then sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.
One of the eight lawsuits that overturned Biden’s victory in the state was filed by 11 fraudulent Arizona voters who asked a federal judge to confirm the results and prevent the results from being sent to the Electoral College. In dismissing the case, the judge concluded that the Republicans “failed to provide the court with factual support for their extraordinary claims.” Days after that case was dismissed, all 11 signed the affidavit.
Those scheduled to appear on Tuesday are Ward; Tyler Bowyer, executive director of Turning Point USA, a conservative youth organization; State Sen. Anthony Kern; Greg Chafston, former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party; Robert Montgomery, former chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee; Samuel Moorhead, Republican Precinct Committeeman in Gila County; Nancy Cottle, Arizona Republican Women First Vice Chair in 2020; Lorraine Pellegrino, past president of Ahwatukee Republican Women; Michael Ward, an osteopathic physician, who married Ward; Attorneys Jenna Ellis and Christina Popp; and Michael Roman, Trump’s director of 2020 Election Day operations.
State Senate. Arraignments are scheduled for June 6 for Jake Hoffman; June 7 to former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows; And on June 18 to Trump lawyer Boris Epstein and another Republican, James Lawman, Trump said he accepted the government.
