Rudolph Giuliani, attorney for President Donald Trump, arrives for a news conference at the Republican National Committee on lawsuits regarding the outcome of the 2020 presidential election on Thursday, November 19, 2020.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Federal investigators executed a search warrant Wednesday at the Manhattan apartment of Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City who was the personal lawyer of former President Donald Trump, NBC News reported, citing two sources who saw the raid unfold.
The search was part of a criminal investigation into Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine, The New York Times reported first Wednesday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.
Federal prosecutors in New York last year sought approval from top officials at the Department of Justice to ask for a search warrant for Giuliani’s electronic communications, NBC reported. Giuliani is the former United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, the same office that is investigating him.
A lawyer for Giuliani, Robert Costello, said the authorities arrived at the Upper East Side apartment at 6 a.m. and seized electronic devices during the search, The Wall Street Journal reported. The investigation is looking into possible violations of foreign lobbying rules, and the search warrant sought communications between Giuliani and others including conservative columnist John Solomon, Costello told the Journal.
Giuliani, Costello and a spokesman for Trump did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on the report. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment to CNBC on the reported raid of Giuliani’s home.
The Justice Department did not immediately provide comment.
Giuliani tried in 2019 to dig up damaging information on President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, in connection with Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine.
The efforts by Giuliani, Trump and others in his orbit to pressure Ukrainian officials to investigate the Bidens — or at least announce an investigation — prompted House Democrats to impeach the former president for the first time. Democrats argued Trump’s reelection ambitions prompted the dirt-seeking efforts.
The Senate, then held by Republicans, acquitted Trump.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan were known to be reviewing Giuliani’s bank records in connection with the investigation of his activities in Ukraine.
Giuliani reacted to the investigation last winter, asserting in a furious tweet that the federal investigators were acting as “secret police” to help Biden.
“They want to seize my emails. No reason. No wrongdoing. Attorney-Client privilege.?” Giuliani tweeted on Dec. 22.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
— CNBC’s Amanda Macias and Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
