The raid on Giuliani, which was first reported by the New York Times, 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 apartment at 6 a.m. on Wednesday and remained for roughly two hours. The agents seized several electronic devices including laptops and cell phones.
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"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.
Giuliani was instrumental in Trump's push to have Ukraine investigate then-candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter regarding energy company Burisma Holdings, for which Hunter Biden served on the board.
Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman have already been charged with crimes including campaign finance violations for allegedly funneling foreign money to various U.S. campaigns in order to gain influence over candidates.
Wednesday afternoon, Giuliani's son, Andrew Giuliani, delivered a statement outside his father's apartment, slamming the raid as "disgusting," and as the "continued politicization of the Justice Department."
"I am speaking as a son and a concerned American--anybody, any American, whether you are red or blue, should be extremely disturbed by what happened here today by the continued politicization of the Justice Department," Andrew Giuliani said. "This is disgusting. This is absolutely absurd."
He added, "It is the continued politicization of the Justice Department that we have seen and it has to stop-- if this can happen to the former president's lawyer, this can happen to anyone."
Andrew Giuliani added that the Justice Department must be "independent of politics."
Meanwhile, Fox News has also learned that Victoria Toensing, a lawyer close to Giuliani, also was visited by the FBI on Wednesday morning.
A well-placed source familiar with the situation said the FBI visited Toensing's home Wednesday morning and asked for her phone. Toensing turned over the phone to the FBI, according to the source. The source told Fox News that the FBI did not search Toensing's home.
"Ms. Toensing is a former federal prosecutor and senior Justice Department official. She has always conducted herself and her law practice according to the highest legal and ethical standards," a spokesperson from Toensing's law firm said in a statement. "She would have been happy to turn over any relevant documents. All they had to do was ask."
The spokesperson added: "Ms. Toensing was informed that she is not a target of the investigation."
Source:-https://www.foxnews.com/politics/feds-search-giuliani-apartment-ukraine-investigation
