On Thursday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s apartment was raid by the FBI and denounced by former President Donald Trump.
Trump complained that “it’s like so unfair” that Rudy Giuliani got raided by the feds as part of their investigation into the Ukraine dirt-digging scandal.
He said the ex-mayor is a “great patriot,” he brushed aside the serious allegations that Giuliani improperly used his cozy ties to the White House to smear then-candidate Joe Biden and possibly enrich himself in the process.
“Rudy Giuliani is a great patriot. He just loves this country, and they raid his apartment,” Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.
Giuliani, the 76-year-old former New York City mayor once celebrated for his leadership after 9/11, has been under federal scrutiny for several years over his ties to Ukraine. The dual searches sent the strongest signal yet that he could eventually face federal charges.
Agents searched Giuliani’s Madison Avenue apartment and Park Avenue office, people familiar with the investigation told the Associated Press. The warrants, which required approval from the top levels of the justice department, signify that prosecutors believe they have probable cause that Giuliani committed a federal crime – though they do not guarantee that charges will materialize.
A third search warrant was served on a phone belonging to Washington lawyer Victoria Toensing, a former federal prosecutor and close ally of Giuliani and Trump. Her law firm issued a statement saying she was informed that she is not a target of the investigation.
The full scope of the investigation is unclear, but it at least partly involves Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine, law enforcement officials have told the AP.
In a statement issued through his lawyer, Giuliani accused federal authorities of a “corrupt double standard”, invoking allegations he’s pushed against prominent Democrats, and said that the justice department was “running roughly shod over the constitutional rights of anyone involved in, or legally defending, former President Donald J Trump.”
During a telephone interview on the Fox Business show “Mornings With Maria,” Trump contrasted Giuliani’s record with that of John Kerry, who has recently been accused of telling an Iranian official about Israeli actions in Syria — a claim Kerry has denied.
“It is incredible because you bring up John Kerry and the horrible thing that he did and was doing for some time and then you take the greatest mayor in the history of New York; you take a great patriot. You know Rudy Giuliani is a great patriot. He just loves this country, and they raid his apartment,” Trump said.
“It’s, like, so unfair and it’s like a double standard like I don’t think anybody’s ever seen before. It’s very, very unfair,” Trump said.
“Rudy is a patriot who loves this country.”
Trump noted that Biden family members who have overseas business interests are allowed to evade the rules.
“I don’t know what they’re looking for or what they’re doing with filings of various papers and lobbying filings. Well, did Hunter [Biden] file? And did [President] Biden file? Because they did a lot of work with other countries. To the best of everybody’s knowledge, they didn’t file,” he said.
“It’s a very, very unfair situation,” he said. “You have to understand. Rudy loves this country so much. It is so terrible when you see the things going on in our country with the corruption and the problems and then they go after Rudy Giuliani. It’s very sad.”
Robert Costello, who is representing Giuliani, said the search was not necessary because Giuliani offered to answer questions except privileged information between Giuliani and Giuliani’s clients. According to The Times.
Trump Speaks Out After Feds Raid Rudy Giuliani’s Apartment: ‘A Double Standard’ Like We’ve Never Seen Before.
The FBI’s raid on former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s apartment was denounced Thursday by former President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, the FBI executed a search warrant for Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment and seized multiple electronic devices, according to The New York Times.
Giuliani, who served as Trump’s attorney, is being investigated in connection with his activities regarding Ukraine, the Times reported.
“It is incredible because you bring up John Kerry and the horrible thing that he did and was doing for some time and then you take the greatest mayor in the history of New York; you take a great patriot. You know Rudy Giuliani is a great patriot. He just loves this country, and they raid his apartment,” Trump said.
The allegations mostly stem from the same set of facts that led to Trump’s first impeachment in 2019 over claims that the president sought to shake down the president of Ukraine to join his effort to smear Biden.
Democratic House lawmakers voted to impeach Trump but the GOP Senate acquitted him. The former president faced a similar split verdict in February over his incitement of the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, although a few more Republicans broke with him.
Trump suggested the Biden administration is more corrupt than his, despite myriad ongoing investigations into his conduct in and out of the White House.
According to Trump, “It’s a very, very unfair situation,” as he remained mostly holed up in his Mar a Lago club since his ouster. “It is so terrible when you see the things going on in our country with the corruption and the problems and then they go after Rudy Giuliani. It’s very sad.”
Sources: DAILY NEWS, WESTERN JOURNAL, THE GUARDIAN