35°
Guiliani, who was ex-President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, didn’t immediately comment, nor did the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York in Manhattan.
No charges had been filed against the 76-year-old former federal prosecutor as of Wednesday afternoon.
Agents earlier in the day seized electronic devices during a warranted search as part of a months-long investigation, according to The New York Times, which broke the story.
Federal prosecutors reportedly have eyed Giuliani for more than two years now, questioning whether he’d secretly lobbied the Trump administration on behalf of Ukrainian officials.
They’d also reportedly wondered whether he sought an investigation into the Biden family. Hunter Biden, the president’s son, had been a board member of a Ukrainian energy company.
Giuliani’s activities were also a subject of interest for the Democrat-controlled U.S. House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees.
A subpoena that asked him for documents of his interactions with Ukrainian officials noted that Giuliani said in an interview that he’d spoke to a prosecutor there about Joe Biden’s time in Ukraine when he was vice president.
“In addition to this stark admission, you stated more recently that you are in possession of evidence -- in the form of text messages, phone records, and other communications -- indicating that you were not acting alone and that other Trump Administration officials may have been involved in this scheme,” a letter from the committee chairs to Giuliani said.
The chairs accused him of scheming with ex-president to “advance his personal political interests by abusing the power of the Office of the President” and says Giuliani pressed Ukrainian officials into two “politically-motivated” probes.
Guidelines require approval of Justice Department officials in Washington, D.C., for federal prosecutors in individual states to pursue such action against an attorney such as Giuliani.
CNN previously reported that Justice Department officials scotched a similar search of the former mayor, questioning questioned whether they had sufficiently established probable cause – and noting that it was too close to the presidential election.
Common practice has been to avoid such investigations within 60 days of a vote to prevent perceived or actual undue influence.
In the end, authorities decided to wait until the change in administration was complete.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Lower Paxton and receive free news updates.
