Topline
A federal judge ruled against attorney Rudy Giuliani and his opposition to federal investigators’ seizure of electronic devices from his apartment and office last month, declaring Friday an outside “special master” should be appointed to review Giuliani’s possessions.
Rudy Giuliani appears before the Michigan House Oversight Committee in Lansing, Michigan on December ... [+]
Key Facts
FBI agents raided Giuliani’s apartment and law office in April and seized 18 electronic devices—as well as a cell phone from fellow conservative attorney Victoria Toensing—as part of a long running investigation into whether Giuliani violated foreign lobbying rules in his dealings with Ukraine.
Giuliani had asked the court to have his possessions returned to him so he could review them first, but U.S. District Court Judge J. Paul Oetken said Friday there is no “legal requirement” for the court to order that.
Oetken also rebuffed Giuliani’s suggestion that being a lawyer—particularly former President Donald Trump’s attorney—made the search of his apartment “problematic,” noting, “Lawyers are not immune from searches in criminal investigations.”
The judge shut down Giuliani and Toensing’s motion for the court to “return” the results of earlier government searches of their email and iCloud accounts in 2019, saying the court “sees no legal basis” for granting their requests.
The federal government asked the court to appoint a third-party “special master” as part of the investigation who could review the materials to see if any of it is subject to attorney-client privilege, which Giuliani largely did not oppose beyond his requests to receive the materials first.
Oetken granted the request for a special master, which Giuliani’s attorney Robert J. Costello told Forbes in an email Giuliani’s team viewed as “inevitable” and said the ruling “comes as no surprise to us.”
Crucial Quote
“Guiliani’s and Toensing’s position lacks legal support,” Oetken wrote about Giuliani’s request to have the seized materials returned to him. “The search warrants at issue here were based on judicial findings of probable cause — supported by detailed affidavits — to believe that evidence of violations of specified federal offenses would be found at the locations to be searched.”
Chief Critic
Giuliani has maintained his innocence in the Ukraine investigation and decried the search executed on his apartment, saying it was unnecessary because he was willing to cooperate with federal investigators. By conducting the “unnecessary” searches, the Southern District of New York was choosing “to treat a distinguished lawyer as if he was the head of a drug cartel or a terrorist” to “create maximum prejudicial coverage” of Giuliani and former President Donald Trump, the former New York City mayor’s lawyers argued in a recent letter to the court.
What To Watch For
The parties in the case will have to propose names for who should be appointed special master by June 4, Oetken ruled Friday. Once the special master is appointed, they will “expeditiously conduct” a review of the documents that were seized to filter out any material that could be subject to attorney client privilege before the materials are reviewed by federal investigators.
Key Background
The raid on Giuliani’s apartment and office sharply escalated an ongoing probe into Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine—including his efforts to oust former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch—and if he acted illegally in his dealings with the Ukrainians. The probe may also have a broader scope beyond Ukraine, as Politico reported investigators have been looking into Giuliani’s connections to Romania as well. The apartment raid came after the Giuliani probe was reportedly put on hold in the waning days of the Trump administration, with Trump-era Justice Department officials in Washington D.C. reportedly halting prosecutors’ request for a search warrant after it was first requested over the summer.
Tangent
In addition to this federal investigation, Giuliani is also facing four lawsuits over his efforts to overturn the election results, including defamation lawsuits from voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, and an investigation from the Attorney Grievance Committee for the New York Supreme Court, where Giuliani is licensed to practice law.
Further Reading
Feds Took 18 Electronic Devices From Giuliani Apartment During Raid (Forbes)
Rudy Giuliani Hires Harvey Weinstein’s Defense Attorneys To Represent Him In Federal Probe (Forbes)
Feds Search Giuliani’s, Toensing’s Properties As Part Of Ukraine Investigation (Forbes)
Report: Trump’s Justice Department Held Up Giuliani Investigation By Blocking Warrant Request (Forbes)
