When Giuliani allegedly tried urging a Michigan lawmaker to help override the state’s 2020 election results, he mistyped the phone number
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Rudy Giuliani on Sept. 11, 2024.
Rudy Giuliani allegedly attempted to persuade a Michigan politician to help overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election — but failed after he texted his message to the wrong phone number, according to new court evidence.
On Wednesday, Oct. 4, documents unsealed in federal court in the election interference case against former President Donald Trump state that a co-conspirator (who was previously identified as Giuliani) show that the former New York City mayor sent a text to an unnamed person encouraging them to pass legislation in Michigan to support Trump by rejecting the election results.
“So I need you to pass a joint resolution from the legislature that states that, * the election is in dispute, * there’s an ongoing investigation by the legislature, and * the Electors sent by Governor Whitmer are not the official electors of the state of Michigan and do not fall within the Safe Harbor deadline under Michigan law,” Giuliani wrote on Dec. 7, 2020, per the 165-page court filing.
According to the court documents — which were submitted by special counsel Jack Smith’s team and unsealed by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan — Giuliani’s message was not properly delivered because “he put the wrong number into his phone.”
Related: Rudy Giuliani’s Daughter Says She Lost Her Aging Father to Donald Trump: ‘I’ve Been Grieving’
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Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump on Aug. 18, 2016.
Although the person who sent the text message is referred to only as “Co-Conspirator 1,” or “CC1,” it’s widely believed to be Giuliani. In the original indictment, CC1 is described as “an attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that the Defendant’s 2020 re-election campaign attorneys would not.”
The new court filing more directly links Co-Conspirator 1 with the former mayor by mentioning a redacted social media post from Trump in which he praises Giuliani. In the filing, the name in Trump’s post is covered up with “CC1,” but the un-redacted post still exists on Trump’s X account.
Giuliani’s attorney, Robert Costello, previously told the New York Timesand CBS News it “appears” to him that Co-Conspirator 1 is Giuliani.
Giuliani’s rep did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment about the new allegation, though Giuliani has long been linked with the so-called “fake electors plot.”
Related: Donald Trump Said 2 Chilling Words on Jan. 6 When Aide Told Him Mike Pence Was in Danger: Newly Revealed Evidence
Prosecutors in the case against Trump allege that his allies worked to “submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification” as the former president sought to overturn the 2020 election results.
The Trump-appointed slates of electors attempted to sign certificates that stated they were legitimate electors in their states, including Michigan. They then tried to get Congress to count the certificates on Jan. 6, 2021, but the plan failed, and the infamous Capitol riot broke out.
Trump faces four charges including one count each of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
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The federal Jan. 6 charges were attached to the third of four indictments against the former president.
In the first indictment, he was accused of trying to bury evidence of an illegal conspiracy to corrupt the 2016 election (he was convicted on all 34 felony counts), and in the second, he was indicted on federal charges related to his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House (that case has since been thrown out). His final indictment was in Georgia, related to an alleged conspiracy to overturn the election results in the state.
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