NEW YORK — Federal investigators have executed a search warrant on former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, seizing electronic devices, sources confirmed to Fox News.
The raid on Giuliani comes as federal authorities were investigating whether he violated the law by lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of Ukrainian officials in 2019. Giuliani has served as former President Donald Trump’s personal attorney on a number of high-profile matters.
According to Giuliani’s attorney Robert Costello, seven FBI agents arrived at the Madison Avenue apartment at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, and remained for roughly two hours. The agents seized several electronic devices including laptops and cell phones.
Moreover, Giuliani’s office on Park Avenue was also searched simultaneously, Yahoo News reported.
Executing a search warrant is an extraordinary move for prosecutors to take against a lawyer, let alone a lawyer for a former president. It is a major turning point in the long-running investigation into Giuliani, who as mayor steered New York through the Sept. 11 attacks and earlier in his career led the same U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan that is now investigating him.
“This is totally unnecessary,” Costello told Fox News, claiming that the raid was done to “make him look like he’s some sort of criminal.”
The warrant was based on suspicion that Giuliani violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) in lobbying on behalf of Ukraine. FARA requires individuals to notify the State Department if they are acting as a foreign agent.
The FBI told Fox News that they have no comment on the matter, and the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York has declined to comment as well.
This move will likely rile Trump’s base as federal authorities have been accused of being weaponized in their pursuit of allies of the former president.
