Rudy Giuliani’s NYC apartment searched by federal investigators, reports say

Federal investigators executed a search warrant Wednesday at the Manhattan apartment of Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City who was the personal lawyer of former President Donald Trump, NBC News reported, citing two sources who saw the raid unfold.

The search was part of a criminal investigation into Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine, The New York Times reported first Wednesday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

Federal prosecutors in New York last year sought approval from top officials at the Department of Justice to ask for a search warrant for Giuliani’s electronic communications, NBC reported. Giuliani is the former United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, the same office that is investigating him.

A lawyer for Giuliani, Robert Costello, said the authorities arrived at the Upper East Side apartment at 6 a.m. and seized electronic devices during the search, The Wall Street Journal reported. The investigation is looking into possible violations of foreign lobbying rules, and the search warrant sought communications between Giuliani and others including conservative columnist John Solomon, Costello told the Journal.

Giuliani, Costello and a spokesman for Trump did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on the report. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment to CNBC on the reported raid of Giuliani’s home.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

Giuliani tried in 2019 to dig up damaging information on President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, in connection with Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine.

The efforts by Giuliani, Trump and others in his orbit to pressure Ukrainian officials to investigate the Bidens — or at least announce an investigation — prompted House Democrats to impeach the former president for the first time. Democrats argued Trump’s reelection ambitions prompted the dirt-seeking efforts.

The Senate, then held by Republicans, acquitted Trump.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan were known to be reviewing Giuliani’s bank records in connection with the investigation of his activities in Ukraine.

Giuliani reacted to the investigation last winter, asserting in a furious tweet that the federal investigators were acting as “secret police” to help Biden.

“They want to seize my emails. No reason. No wrongdoing. Attorney-Client privilege.?” Giuliani tweeted on Dec. 22.

The search was the second time that someone who served as Trump’s lawyer had his property raided by investigators from the SDNY.

The first was Michael Cohen, whose office and home were searched three years ago this month.

Cohen, once a Trump loyalist, later turned against his former boss and pleaded guilty to multiple crimes related to the ex-president and the Trump Organization. Trump and Giuliani both excoriated Cohen following his plea in November 2018.

Cohen is currently cooperating with an ongoing criminal probe of Trump and his business conducted by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. That investigation focuses on possible bank and insurance fraud involving Trump Organization real estate assets, among other issues.

In a tweet Wednesday, Cohen reacted enthusiastically to news of the raid on Giuliani’s property.

“Here we go folks!!!” Cohen tweeted.

Andrew Giuliani, the former mayor’s son and a former Trump administration official, told CNN last week that he would travel to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, to discuss a possible New York gubernatorial bid with the ex-president.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

— CNBC’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.