Rudy Raided: Feds Execute Search Warrants in Rudy Giuliani's Home and Office
The sweeping investigation into former President Donald Trump escalated dramatically yesterday for attorney Rudy Giuliani, as the former Trump ally and lawyer's home and office were raided. The Justice Department executed the search warrants as part of an active investigation into Giuliani's dealings with numerous foreign Ukraine men during Trump's time in office.
Raiding an attorney's office is rare in the U.S., and this executed search warrant seems to signify an upturn into the investigation of Giuliani.
Referring to the raid, Giuliani's attorney Robert Costello said the electronics seized are protected by attorney-client privilege and contain "proprietary" information.
"The warrant served on Mr. Giuliani's law office is another disturbing example of complete disregard for the attorney-client privilege," Costello said in a statement.
Simultaneously, the FBI raided the D.C. home of a second attorney, Victoria Toensing, another confidant of both Trump and Giuliani. Toensing worked with the Ukrainians while Trump was president.
In his statement, Costello said the Feds are focusing on one incident where Giuliani failed to register as a foreign agent.
Costello said he believes the raids occurred partly due to "hatred" caused by "Trump derangement syndrome" and were connected to a political vendetta orchestrated by the Feds.
"The electronics were taken... and are replete with material covered by the attorney-client privilege and other constitutional privileges," Costello said in his statement. "Mr. Giuliani respects the law and he can demonstrate that his conduct as a lawyer and a citizen was absolutely legal and ethical."
Toensing's raid was confirmed by her attorneys, who released a statement saying the former federal prosecutor and senior Justice Department official "has always conducted herself and her law practice according to the highest legal and ethical standards. She would have been happy to turn over any relevant documents. All they had to do was ask.” Ms. Toensing was informed that she is not a target of the investigation, according to the statement.
After months of behind-the-scenes work on this investigation, the Manhattan federal prosecutors and the Justice Department escalated the investigation into Giuliani's actions while he was serving Trump, and this latest move signifies an intensification of the ongoing probe.
The first of two impeachments against President Trump was ignited by an incident involving Giuliani and controversial Ukraine residents. One of the Ukrainians Giuliani worked with was discovered to be a Russian Spy. Another Ukrainian diplomat, Andriy Telizhenko, worked closely with Giuliani and was later sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for campaign finance violations.
The Treasury released a statement saying, "Telizhenko, a former low-level Ukrainian diplomat, orchestrated meetings between Derkach and U.S. persons to help propagate false claims concerning corruption in Ukraine. Dubinsky, who serves alongside Derkach in Ukraine's parliament, joined Derkach in press conferences designed to perpetuate these and other false narratives and denigrate U.S. presidential candidates and their families."
Giuliani, while working for President Trump, worked with these Ukrainians in efforts to uncover criminal activity by President Joe Biden's son, Hunter. Hunter Biden had worked with a Ukrainian energy company, and Trump at the time was facing a possible run against Biden in his bid for a second term in office.
As shown on an official White House transcript, then-President Trump told the new Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky to contact Giuliani. Later on, the Trump administration notified President Zelensky the U.S. was withholding military aid unless he made a public announcement about an investigation into the energy company.
Giuliani worked with two men regarding Ukraine issues, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman. In 2019, both Ukrainian nationals were hit with a federal criminal indictment and charged with hiding political donations while defrauding investors in their campaign finance scheme. The name of their company, Fraud Guarantee, paid Giuliani $500,000 as a consultant.
Giuliani has not been charged in the case. He has denied any wrongdoing. The investigation is ongoing.
