Giuliani Pleads Not Guilty, Avoiding a Georgia Court Date

More than half the defendants, including Trump, have done the same
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 23, 2023 3:01 PM CDT
Updated Sep 1, 2023 4:50 PM CDT
Giuliani Surrenders to Authorities in Georgia
Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani speaks to reporters as he leaves his apartment building in New York, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
UPDATE Sep 1, 2023 4:50 PM CDT

Rudy Giuliani filed a not guilty plea on Friday to charges that he illegally tried to overturn Georgia's results in the 2020 presidential election, along with Donald Trump and their other codefendants. Giuliani waived his right to appear at an arraignment hearing scheduled for next week; Trump and at least another 10 of the defendants have similarly avoided an appearance in an Atlanta courtroom, the AP reports.

Aug 23, 2023 3:01 PM CDT

Rudy Giuliani has become the latest of Donald Trump's 18 co-defendants in the Georgia election case to surrender to authorities in Fulton County. The 79-year-old former New York City mayor was booked Wednesday after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee approved a $150,000 bond, the Washington Post report. According to jail records, the bond was $30,000 on a charge of violating the Georgia RICO (Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations) Act and $10,000 for each of a dozen other charges. Trump is expected to surrender to authorities Thursday. His bond has been set at $200,000.

When he left his apartment in New York City, Giuliani said he was "fighting for justice" and has been doing so since he first became a lawyer for Trump, the AP reports. "I'm feeling very, very good about it because I feel like I am defending the rights of all Americans, as I did so many times as a United States attorney." Giuliani said he doesn't even know who some of the co-defendants are. He described them as "just regular people making a normal living." One name he will recognize is that of Sidney Powell, another Trump lawyer who surrendered to authorities Wednesday.

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Powell, who promoted numerous conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, faces seven counts, including the RICO charges, NBC News reports. Her bond was set at $100,000, as it was for lawyers John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, and Kenneth Chesebro. (Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and two other defendants are trying to have their cases moved out of state court.)

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