Giuliani: Attorney Sidney Powell ‘Does Not Speak for the President’

Giuliani: Attorney Sidney Powell ‘Does Not Speak for the President’
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington on Nov. 19, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Janita Kan
12/22/2020
Updated:
12/22/2020

Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani has again distanced his legal team and the president from lawyer Sidney Powell amid speculation that she may be appointed as a special counsel to investigate election fraud allegations.

The rumors emerged following media reports, citing anonymous sources, that said President Donald Trump had floated the idea of installing Powell into the position during a meeting at the White House with other senior aides and members of his legal team. Some reports also suggested martial law was discussed during the meeting.

Trump has since dismissed the reports, characterizing them as “fake news.” “Just more knowingly bad reporting!” Trump wrote early Sunday.

Meanwhile, Giuliani, during an interview on Monday with Newsmax’s Sean Spicer, responded to the speculation by further disassociating the White House and his legal team from Powell.

“Let me say definitively: Sidney Powell is not part of our legal team. She hasn’t been for five weeks. She is not a special counsel for the president. She does not speak for the president, nor does she speak for the administration,” Giuliani said.

“She speaks for herself. And she’s a fine woman, a fine lawyer, but whatever she is talking about, it’s her own opinions. I’m not responsible for them, the president isn’t, nor is anybody else on our legal team.”

Powell, who was initially part of Trump’s legal team but has since separated, is pursuing several election challenges in the courts. Her lawsuits aim to reverse the certification of 2020 election results in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona over allegations of “massive fraud” in particular ballot stuffing and voter manipulation through the use of the Dominion voting system. Dominion has repeatedly denied the claims.

Sidney Powell in Washington on Dec. 13, 2020. (Otabius Williams/The Epoch Times)
Sidney Powell in Washington on Dec. 13, 2020. (Otabius Williams/The Epoch Times)

Giuliani had previously in November pointed out that the Trump legal team is not linked to Powell following the president’s announcement that she was part of the legal team earlier that month. Powell also said she has never signed “a retainer agreement or sent the President or the campaign a bill for my expenses or fees.”

In a separate interview, Peter Navarro, who serves as an adviser to President Donald Trump, told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that he believes a special counsel is necessary to investigate the allegations of voter fraud to “get to the bottom of this.”

“I think we need to seize a lot of these voting machines, because Antrim County, Michigan, these things had a 68 inaccuracy rate, according to an analysis done by a cyber-surveillance company,” Navarro said.

Navarro recently issued a report on election irregularities that backs up allegations of election irregularities. The report builds a case that the claims are serious enough to warrant an urgent probe and substantial enough to overturn the results.

Navarro said the irregularities show that instead of any “silver bullet” being responsible for an unfavorable outcome for Trump, “this was theft by a thousand cuts across six dimensions and six battleground states.”

White House adviser Peter Navarro speaks to reporters outside the West Wing in Washington on July 3, 2020. (Erin Scott/Reuters)
White House adviser Peter Navarro speaks to reporters outside the West Wing in Washington on July 3, 2020. (Erin Scott/Reuters)

The legal teams led by Powell and Giuliani separately have launched a slew of lawsuits in several battleground states, including one in New Mexico.

Many of the lawsuits are asking judges to prevent presidential electors in those states from taking any official action until all allegations of fraud are transparently and independently addressed.

According to witness and expert testimony that emerged after Nov. 3, it’s possible that a significant proportion of votes were cast and counted in violation of state election codes and the U.S. Constitution.

Allegations about election fraud have been repeatedly denied by leading election officials, while critics and members of the media have characterized the claims as “baseless.” So far a large proportion of cases filed have been thrown out by judges for procedural reasons, including by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Powell’s four cases have been thrown out by lower federal courts, however, her team has asked the Supreme Court to review her cases.

Meanwhile, Giuliani said on Monday that his team will be “extremely aggressive” in their strategy, while stressing that it will be done “within the bounds of rationality, common sense, and the law.” His team has also filed a request to the nation’s top court to hear a case that consolidates three Pennsylvania Supreme Court decisions ruled against the Trump campaign.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.