The Giuliani investigation grew out of a federal investigation of his associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who worked on gathering information about the Bidens during the election. ‘Here we go folks,’ tweeted Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney who was also subject of a federal raid and would eventually plead guilty to eight federal counts, including violating campaign finance law. The warrant was originally sought last summer but top officials at DOJ raised concerns about issuing a warrant so close to an election.ĭOJ rules prevent actions close to an election that might be seen as interference – a matter that came up both in 2016 during the probe of Hillary Clinton’s emails and in 2020 during the investigation, not publicly revealed, into Hunter Biden over potential tax issues.īut after Merrick Garland was confirmed as President Biden’s attorney general, the Justice Department lifted its objection to the search.īiden vowed to have an independent Justice Department and said he would not interfere in its work. The United States Attorney’s office in Manhattan and the FBI had wanted to execute the warrant on Giuliani’s Upper East Side pad for months but had been stymied by the political leadership put in place at the Justice Department by President Trump. ‘Why would you do this to anyone, let alone someone who was the associate attorney general, United States attorney, the mayor of New York City and the personal lawyer to the 45th president of the United States.’ ‘What they did today was legal thuggery,’ Costello told The New York Times. Giuliani’s lawyer, Robert Costello, called the searches unnecessary and said Giuliani had offered to answer questions from prosecutors, except those regarding his privileged communications with Trump. Investigators executed warrants at Giuliani’s home on Madison Avenue and his office on Park Avenue and seized electronic devices, a person familiar with the investigation told the AP. To obtain the search warrant, investigators would have needed to convince a judge they had sufficient reason to believe that a crime was committed and the search would turn up evidence of that.
It is unusual for prosecutors to execute a search warrant on a lawyer, particularly one who has privileged conversations with his client, the former president of the United States.
The raid on Wednesday indicates the investigation of the former New York City mayor has entered an aggressive new phase. ‘Todays winner of the internet’, Someone called wrote.įormer New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani addresses the media outside Four Seasons Total Landscaping last year ‘Rumor has it Rudy Giuliani still haunts the parking lot of Four Seasons Total Landscaping to this day, yelling at the sky,’ wrote. Ray McKigney said: ‘Four Seasons Total Landscaping – the hero we never saw coming’. ‘It’s obvious Four Seasons Total Landscaping is great at providing shade from more than just trees,’ a user called posted. Since last year’s press conference, Four Seasons Total Landscaping has capitalized on its sudden internet fame, regularly trolling politicians on Twitter.Īfter posting the tweet making fun of Giuliani, Twitter users praised Total Landscaping’s sense of humor. Giuliani turned up, along with a large contingent of media, and the location was pointed out for being an unlikely place to fight an election result. ‘It will be held at Four Seasons Total Landscaping - no relation with the hotel.’įour Seasons Total Landscaping is situated in an industrial part of Philadelphia next to Delaware Valley Cremation Center and Fantasy Island Adult Books, where owners host ‘Dildo Madness’ sales throughout the year. However, this was soon corrected, with the hotel itself tweeting: ‘To clarify, President Trump’s press conference will NOT be held at Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia. Police exit Rudy Giuliani’s home on 66th Street in Manhattan on Wednesdayįour Seasons Total Landscaping was unexpectedly thrust into the nation’s consciousness last year.ĭays after the 2020 presidential election, and with the result hanging in the balance, Trump announced there would be a ‘big press conference’ at the ‘Four Seasons’ on Saturday morning.
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