Politics

Feds seized 18 devices from Rudy Giuliani and his employees in April raid

Federal investigators seized a total of 18 devices belonging to Rudy Giuliani and “certain employees” of his consulting business when they raided the embattled former mayor’s Manhattan office and apartment last month, according to court papers made public Thursday.

The feds also seized one device from Washington, DC-area lawyer and close Giuliani associate Victoria Toensing, as they executed the warrants on April 28, the court papers state.

The number of devices was redacted in a previous public filing of the document, in which prosecutors call for a “special master” to be appointed to review the material seized.

In the unredacted version, prosecutors also acknowledged they executed a “covert warrant” on Giuliani prior to the April search.

In a filing last week, Giuliani’s attorney criticized the covert warrant the feds executed against him in 2019, arguing they treated the former mayor like a “terrorist” or drug trafficker — and may have violated attorney-client privilege with the search.

Press members gather in front of former President Donald Trump's personal attorney and the former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani's apartment after FBI has executed a search warrant of the home.
Press members and the NYPD gather in front of Rudy Giuliani’s apartment after the FBI executed a search warrant at the home. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

“The [Southern District of New York] simply chose to treat a distinguished lawyer as if he was the head of a drug cartel or a terrorist, in order to create maximum prejudicial coverage of both Giuliani, and his most well-known client — the former President of the United States,” wrote his attorney, Robert Costello, referencing President Donald Trump.

The feds are investigating whether Giuliani failed to register as a foreign agent while working on behalf of Ukrainians in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election.

A source previously told The Post that federal investigators are eyeing the former mayor’s relationship with ex-Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko.

Rudy Giuliani's apartment was raided by federal agents in April.
Rudy Giuliani’s apartment was raided by federal agents in April. Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Lutsenko, the former prosecutor general of Ukraine, played a central role in Trump’s first impeachment and was one of several Ukrainian officials who fed Giuliani potentially damaging information about Trump’s political rivals.