President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is under investigation for potential campaign finance violations and other potential charges, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing three unnamed U.S. officials.
Giuliani is also being investigated for a potential violation of the foreign agent registration law, Bloomberg News reported, as part of the ongoing probe into his financial dealings. Charges reportedly could also include bribery of foreign officials or conspiracy.
The former New York mayor is being investigated by the same office he once led, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Giuliani led a widespread dirt-digging operation in Ukraine and elsewhere on Trump’s behalf, sniffing for opposition research that would be helpful to Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign and frequently communicating with U.S. and Ukrainian officials conducting foreign policy. The extent to which Trump was involved in directing a pressure campaign against Ukraine to help this effort is the subject of the House’s impeachment inquiry.
Among other aspects of the probe, Giuliani played a key role in Trump’s decision to recall then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, as well as in pushing the Ukrainian president to publicly announce the investigations Trump wanted.
The ongoing probe of Giuliani’s activities had been previously reported, but the specific potential charges against him had not.
Giuliani’s former clients and business associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were indicted on multiple counts last month related to an alleged campaign finance conspiracy in which they funneled a foreigner’s money into U.S. elections in 2018.
Like Parnas and Fruman, Giuliani was subpoenaed by the House’s impeachment probe. He defied the order for documents.
