Giuliani Claims FBI ‘Trying to Frame’ Him after Apartment Raid
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Rudy Giuliani on Monday rejected allegations that he violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act and accused federal investigators of “trying to frame” him, according to a new report.
Giuliani told Fox News that the early-morning raid on his apartment by federal investigators was “out of control.” Federal agents on Wednesday seized electronic devices from Giuliani, who has previously served as a personal attorney to former President Trump, as part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation.
“At about 6 a.m., there was a banging on my door — a very loud banging, and outside there was a group of an endless number of FBI agents,” Giuliani told Fox News.
“Usually a person who has been a former assistant U.S. attorney, a U.S. attorney, a mayor, the associate attorney general, usually they receive a subpoena — not have their home raided,” Giuliani said.
“The only lawyers they raid are lawyers for Donald Trump. I can’t think of another lawyer that has been raided other than lawyers for Trump,” he added. “Trump is in a special category because he doesn’t have constitutional rights.”
Agents are in pursuit of communications between Giuliani and a number of Ukrainian officials, along with evidence related to former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Investigators are reportedly investigating claims that Giuliani pushed to oust Yovanovitch as ambassador on behalf of Ukrainian government officials, in exchange for information on Biden family business dealings in Ukraine. If true, Giuliani would have violated federal lobbying laws. However, Giuliani has vehemently denied the allegations.
Giuliani told the outlet he believes the investigation is the result of federal investigators’ “hatred of President Trump.”
“They are beyond the ability to control their rational thinking or their decency, and they have a serious, serious ethical issue, driven by Trump derangement syndrome,” Giuliani said.
“They are trying to frame me,” he added. “They are trying to find something they can make into a crime, some technical violation, some mistake I made.”
He said he was “shocked” when agents showed him a warrant for his electronics over an alleged violation of the Foreign Agents Registration “for failure to file as a foreign agent on behalf of an unnamed Ukrainian official.”
He said he “never did this” and had offered to discuss the allegations with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York as recently as March 4.
Giuliani said that as an attorney of 51 years and the former U.S. attorney for SDNY that “I know the criminal law and I do not violate it.” He said he complied with FARA “completely.”
“My contracts have clauses that I will not act as a foreign agent, and I wanted to show these things to the government so that they would stop their consistent illegal leaking of an investigation,” Giuliani said.
“There is no way on earth that they could have anyone telling the truth that I was acting as a foreign agent,” he continued, “nor do they have any evidence that I tried to influence the government on behalf of clients.”
He said he referred any Ukrainian clients to Victoria Toensing, who also received a visit from the FBI, according to the report. However, though Toensing turned over a cell phone to the agency, she did not have her home searched and was told she “is not the target of the investigation,” a source told Fox News.
Meanwhile, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, Giuliani’s associates, have been charged with crimes, including campaign finance violations, for allegedly directing foreign money to U.S. campaigns in an effort to gain influence over candidates.
