New Giuliani attorney says client still believes 2020 Georgia election was stolen

CLAYTON, Ga. - Rudy Giuliani’s new Georgia criminal defense attorney first shook hands with his client on an inauspicious day.

"The day I met him was the day he filed for bankruptcy," recounted Allyn Stockton. "I was expecting somebody that would be preoccupied. For everything that was going on in his life, it was amazing to see how he could compartmentalize and focus on what we were talking about."

Stockton took over after Giuliani’s original Georgia lawyers Brian Tevis and David Wolfe withdrew from the case in October.

Stockton said Giuliani’s New York lawyers John Esposito and David Lewis then approached Atlanta attorney Brian Steele about the job, but Steele was already tied up with the Young Thug case. Steele, in turn, recommended Stockton.

The 55-year-old has long served as the county attorney in Rabun County, two hours north of metro Atlanta. Stockton has deep roots in that north Georgia community. His nephew is the backup quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs.

And there’s no doubt this is the biggest case in Stockton’s criminal defense career.

"Sometimes you don't like the client, but you still like the case and everything," he said in an exclusive interview with the FOX 5 I-Team. "But I've come to really like the client."

The opinion is not universally shared in this state. A DC jury ordered Giuliani to pay two Georgia women $148 million after wrongly accusing Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss of election fraud. They testified Giuliani's comments forced them to flee their homes to avoid threats and vulgar responses from Trump supporters.

A few days after the verdict, Giuliani — once lauded as America’s Mayor after his 9-11 leadership — declared bankruptcy.

Giuliani's name is mentioned 56 times in the Fulton County criminal indictment, second only to Donald Trump. None of his 14 co-defendants face more than the 13 counts filed against Giuliani.

But Stockton said his defense will be simple and straightforward.

"The defense is what they did was not illegal," he said. "You might not have liked it, but he was representing a client."

Most of Giuliani's criminal troubles in Georgia involve his remarks during three appearances before General Assembly committees in December 2020.

In unsworn testimony, Giuliani played surveillance video he claimed proved election workers -- including Freeman and Moss -- created or counted fake ballots to help steal the Georgia election from Trump.

He also insisted thousands of votes were wrongly cast in the names of dead people and felons.

Stockton said Giuliani was only being an advocate for his client President Donald Trump. 

"Mayor Giuliani didn’t create all this stuff," he said. "This is stuff that was brought to him as part of his representation."

We pointed out that Giuliani told lawmakers this was proof of fraud.

"I’ll say this," responded Stockton. "He absolutely believes everything he said."

Even today?

"In principle, yes," answered Stockton.

State and federal authorities investigated Giuliani’s claims and found no evidence to support any of it.

Does he still believe that 10,000 dead people voted in Georgia? Or 2,500 felons voted in Georgia?

"The information they had at the time was based on what experts were giving them," said Stockton. "We’ve got to be able to have lawyers advocate for people, even if that position is wrong."

Currently, Giuliani is set to go to trial with 14 co-defendants, including some cases where he’s mentioned in court filings but not indicted for the crime.

That includes Coffee County where a civil case turned up evidence Giuliani was connected to the attempts to illegally access voting machine software… one of the consultants hired texting "just handed [sic] back in DC with the Mayor. Huge things starting to come together! Most immediately, we were just granted access — by written invitation! To the Coffee County Systems."

And in a civil suit deposition with co-defendant Cathy Latham, she refused to answer any questions about Giuliani.

Attorney David Cross: Do you know Rudy Giuliani?

Latham: Fifth Amendment

Attorney David Cross: Have you ever communicated with him about gaining access to Dominion Voting equipment in GA or elsewhere?

Latham: Fifth Amendment.

Stockton said he had no information about his client’s possible involvement in Coffee County.

"It’s all I can do to focus my time on the 13 counts that we got and just the unbelievable amount of information that’s available for everything," he said.

Stockton hopes Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee will sever Giuliani from the two Coffee County defendants, and even the three specifically indicted for their actions involving alleged harassment of Ruby Freeman.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has asked the court to set a trial date for August.

"We will be ready," said Stockton. "Candidly, we could probably go now."

A trial date decision is expected soon.

He also said it's his understanding Willis will insist that at least four of the defendants go to trial: Trump, Giuliani, former chief of staff Mark Meadows and law professor John Eastman.

"No plea has been sought nor is a plea offer expected," said Stockton.

Finally, there's the question Stockton said everyone in Rabun County asks when they learn he's now representing a famous defendant who has declared bankruptcy.

Did he get paid up front?

"We arrived at an arrangement that I’m satisfied with, and they’re satisfied with," he said with a smile.