Federal prosecutors have informed the court that the grand jury investigation into Rudy Giuliani has concluded and “that based on information currently available to the Government, criminal charges are not forthcoming.”
Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and personal attorney for Donald Trump, had been under investigation by Manhattan federal prosecutors for nearly two years. He was a key figure in the events that led to Trump’s first impeachment, accused of relying on Ukrainian officials and members of parliament to try to dig up dirt about Joe Biden as he ran for president.
Federal prosecutors had been investigating whether those dealings with figures in Ukraine in the run-up to the 2020 election required Giuliani to register as a foreign agent. After prosecutors said that the grand jury probe had ended with no charges coming, Giuliani's lawyer declared it a "total victory," saying they were pleased with the outcome and that "it does not come as a surprise to me."
"In my business, we would call that total victory," Giuliani’s lawyer, Robert Costello, told The Associated Press.
Costello said that it was almost three years ago when he offered to have Giuliani waive his Fifth Amendment privilege to answer questions, but only if he was told of the subject matter in advance. It wasn't until Feb. 2022 that the two sides agreed to the arrangement, Costello said, and that "we answered all their questions."
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As a former assistant U.S. Attorney in the very same office office Giuliani once headed — and then investigated him — Costello said he appreciated the letter filed in court and noted it is unusual for such letters to be filed.
"We appreciate the gesture, we think it is the right thing to do,” Costello said, adding, "hats off to the Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Involved."
Federal investigators seized sixteen of Giuliani’s electronic devices in April 2021 in part to see whether they contained any evidence showing efforts to oust U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and whether he potentially violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, requiring the disclosure of certain political activities or interests. Monday's letter quietly ends the investigation that was revealed with much fanfare when federal agents were seen carting off computers and cellphones during the searches conducted at Giuliani's Manhattan home and office.
The letter was prompted in part by the need for prosecutors to tell a judge that a former federal judge who had overseen a privilege inspection of the electronic devices, to see what had to be excluded from review by criminal prosecutors, was no longer needed.
Prosecutors asked that the Special Master appointed to review the results of several search warrants executed during the investigation be terminated as a result.
The court-appointed monitor, Barbara S. Jones, filed an initial report in January that revealed Giuliani’s lawyers had asked her to block prosecutors from seeing just three of 2,200 seized electronic files deemed relevant to the investigation. But in the past several months, news of any further progress on the review or any other aspect of the case largely evaporated. Prosecutors in New York went silent, a signal they were unlikely to add Giuliani to the long list of Trump associates charged with a federal crime.
Because he is a lawyer, Giuliani's communications with clients are generally protected by law, though there are exceptions. He maintained throughout the probe that he had done nothing wrong, accusing the Justice Department of “running roughshod over the constitutional rights of anyone involved in, or legally defending, former President Donald J. Trump.”
At the time of the filing by prosecutors, Giuliani was on a talk show and apparently unaware of the development.
Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for federal prosecutors, declined to comment on the court filing.
Giuliani, 78, remains a target of a special grand jury in Atlanta investigating attempts by Trump and others to overturn the former president's 2020 election defeat in Georgia. Giuliani testified before the grand jury in August, but he was sanguine when he returned to New York, saying he had “satisfied his obligation under the subpoena.”
