Rudy Giuliani was served Friday with a notice to appear in an Arizona court to answer charges stemming from an effort to keep Donald Trump in the White House despite losing the 2020 election, according to Attorney General Kris Mayes.

An indictment against Giuliani and 17 others was issued by a grand jury more than three weeks ago. Giuliani was the last of the defendants to receive their summons.

“The final defendant was served moments ago,” Mayes posted on the social media site X. She tagged Giuliani’s account and wrote, “Nobody is above the law.”

Earlier in the day, Giuliani posted a taunting message to the platform referring to his avoidance of being served in the case. That post was later deleted, but Mayes shared a screenshot of Giuliani’s remarks, which included an image of him and six other people surrounded by balloons. Giuliani on Friday said on X that he was having an “early-birthday celebration in Florida.”

Arizona politics: Former Trump attorney John Eastman enters not guilty plea, says case headed to trial

The indictment alleges a slate of Arizona Republicans and Trump aides, including Giuliani, engaged in a conspiracy aimed at “preventing the lawful transfer of the presidency of the United States, keeping President Donald J. Trump in office against the will of Arizona voters, and depriving Arizona voters of their right to vote and have their votes counted.”

The defendants in the case face multiple felony counts, including conspiracy, forgery and fraud. If convicted, the crimes could carry prison time, though state law allows for less severe penalties, including probation, depending on a defendant’s circumstances, like past criminal history.

Friday morning, former Trump attorney John Eastman was the first defendant to appear in a Maricopa County courtroom. He entered a plea of not guilty and, after the hearing, said he would fight the case against him at trial.

Most of the other defendants are expected to appear in court or be arraigned virtually next week, on May 21, though some have delayed their appearances to June.

Arizona will face host Arkansas in the next round of the Fayetteville (Ark.) Regional after routing Villanova 14-3 in a mercy-rule five-inning victory Friday.

Arizona (35-16-1) will play Arkansas (37-16) at noon Saturday on ESPN2. Arkansas beat Southeast Missouri 3-2 Friday in the other opening-round game Friday. The winner between Arizona and Arkansas advances to the championship round Sunday.
 
Dakota Kennedy and Tucson High graduate Carlie Scupin each hit home runs and four Wildcats drove in two runs each. Scupin went 3 for 3 and Kennedy scored three runs to help Arizona beat Villanova.
 
Arizona scored eight runs in the first inning to take a demanding lead over Villanova.

Scupin scored Kennedy from second base with a single to left field. The second run scored after Blaise Biringer (Cienega) drew a bases-loaded walk.

Emily Schepp hit a sacrifice fly to bring in the third run of the inning. Tayler Biehl hit a two-run double and Kaiah Altmeyer drove in a pair with a single to right field. Kennedy rounded out the scoring with a two-run home run – her 11th of the season.
 
Scupin extended Arizona’s lead to nine runs with a leadoff home run in the second inning.
 
In the fourth, Villanova scored three runs on a bases-loaded walk, a bases-loaded groundout, and a sacrifice fly.
 
Arizona plated five in the bottom of the fourth to take a 14-3 lead.

Allie Skaggs (Ironwood Ridge) opened the scoring with a two-RBI double and Olivia DiNardo plated the third run of the inning with an RBI single. Biringer scored Skaggs from third with a single and an RBI groundout from Schepp scored the final run of the inning.
 
Miranda Stoddard pitched the first three innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two to hold Villanova scoreless and pick up the win to improve to 6-8.

Brooke Mannon entered the circle to relieve Stoddard in the fourth and gave up three runs in four batters faced. Aissa Silva pitched the final two innings and kept Villanova scoreless on one hit.
 

Attorney John Eastman pleaded not guilty on Friday to conspiracy, fraud, and forgery charges over his role in the effort to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in Arizona to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Eastman, who devised a strategy to try to persuade Congress not to certify the election, is the first person charged in Arizona’s fake elector case to be arraigned. Outside the courthouse, the AP reports, Eastman said the charges against him should have never been filed. “I had zero communications with the electors in Arizona (and) zero involvement in any of the election litigation in Arizona or legislative hearings,” Eastman said. “And I am confident that with the laws faithfully applied, I will be fully be exonerated at the end of this process.”

Arraignments are scheduled Tuesday for 12 other people charged in the case, including nine of the 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring Trump had won Arizona. The Arizona indictment said Eastman encouraged the GOP electors to cast their votes in December 2020, unsuccessfully pressured state lawmakers to change the election’s outcome in Arizona, and told then-Vice President Mike Pence that he could reject Democratic electors in the counting of electoral votes in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump himself was not charged in the Arizona case but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator.

Charges have not yet been made public against Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Trump-aligned attorney, but he was readily identifiable based on descriptions of the defendants in the indictment. No arraignment date has been scheduled for Giuliani. Arizona authorities say they have been unable to serve Giuliani with notice of the charges. Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows is scheduled to be arraigned on June 7. Arizona is the fourth state where allies of the former president have been charged with using false or unproven claims about voter fraud related to the election. Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes, per the AP.

(More Election 2020 stories.)