Rudy Giuliani has been indicted for his alleged involvement in a so-called vote-stealing scheme in the 2020 presidential election.
On Friday, May 17, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced via X (formerly Twitter) that the former New York mayor had been served, noting that he was the last defendant in the case to be served with indictment documents charging him with conspiracy, fraud and forgery.
No one is above the law, Mayes wrote.
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According to reports from NBC News and Republic of ArizonaGiuliani received the documents during his 80th birthday party in Palm Beach, Fla., hosted by Caroline Wren, an adviser to Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake.
Before the documents were handed over to the attorney, Giuliani taunted Mayes by sharing photos of himself posing with guests at a birthday party while balloons floated in the background, writing in a now-deleted X post: “If Arizona authorities can’t find me by tomorrow morning; 1. They have to dismiss the indictment; 2. They must admit that they cannot count the votes.”
Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s spokesman, told NBC News that he didn’t mind the cancellation of his birthday party.
“The mayor was not fazed by the decision to try to embarrass him during his 80th birthday celebration. He enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people who love him — from all walks of life — and we look forward to a near-complete vindication,” Goodman wrote in a statement to the outlet.
Giuliani is one of 18 people, including former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, named in the indictment — which was filed April 24, according to the Associated Press — for their role in an alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 Arizona election in Trump’s favor.
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Rudy Giuliani. Getty Images
The Arizona attorney general’s office is having particular difficulty serving Guiliani in this case, and several other defendants are much further along in their legal proceedings. NBC reported that 11 more defendants will be arraigned on Tuesday, May 21.
Richie Taylor, director of communications for Mayes, previously told Spectrum News New York that agents could not find Guiliani for weeks.
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“Agents spent two days (April 25-26) in New York City attempting to serve the defendant at his residence. Multiple attempts to contact the defendant by phone to arrange service were also unsuccessful,” Taylor told the news outlet, adding that agents even talked to the workers at the reception in the apartment building of the former mayor in an attempt to establish contact. “The service was also sent to the defendant via registered mail, we were not even notified that the attempt was successful.”
The Arizona indictment alleges that Trump’s former attorney “spread false claims of election fraud in Arizona and nationally” and that he “pressured the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Arizona lawmakers to change the outcome of the Arizona election.”
“[He] was responsible for encouraging Republican voters in Arizona and six other contested states to vote for Trump-Pence on December 14, 2020,” the indictment states.
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Source: HIS Education