Rudy Giuliani posted a rambling statement from his lawyer Wednesday night calling the search warrants executed on former mayor’s home and apartment a “disturbing example of complete disregard for the attorney-client privilege protected by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution.” The statement claimed that the Justice Department was “running roughshod over the constitutional rights” of anyone who represented former President Trump.
“It is outrageous that the Trump Derangement Syndrome has gone so far that hatred has driven this unjustified and unethical attack on the United States Attorney and Mayor who did more to reduce crime than virtually any other in American history,” the statement said.
The statement — replete with misspellings and curious capitalization choices — reiterated the lawyer Robert Costello’s claim that they had offered to speak to federal prosecutors.
“Twice the offer was rejected by the SDNY by stating that while they were willing to listen to anything Mr. Costello had to say, they would not tell Mr. Giuliani or Mr. Costello, the subject matter they wanted him to address,” the statement said.
It also took several swipes at Hunter Biden, a target of Giuliani’s Ukraine smear campaign.
“Of course, I’m sure you will not be surprised that the FBI left behind the only electronics that contain evidence of crimes, the Hunter Biden hard drives,” the statement said.
Giuliani’s Ukraine-linked conduct is, in fact, what the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office — which Giuliani once led — is investigating. Per Giuliani’s statement, the search warrants that were executed Wednesday listed only one potential crime, an alleged violation of foreign lobbying registration law. The statement called this allegation “entirely untrue.”
Federal investigators searched Giuliani’s New York apartment and office Wednesday morning — “(at dawn)” the statement said — in what was a dramatic escalation of a many-months-long investigation into the personal attorney to former President Trump.
The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office had reportedly twice last year been stymied by the political leadership at DOJ’s headquarters in its efforts to obtain the warrant.
“What changed?” the statement said. “A new Administration — a new Attorney General. Were they ever informed of Mr. Costello’s offer? Was the Judge who signed the search warrant ever informed of Mr. Costello’s offer? We think not.”
