Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday accused federal agents of ignoring copies of Hunter Biden’s computer hard drives when they raided his apartment — and blamed the investigation into his dealings in Ukraine on “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
In a statement released by his lawyer, Giuliani said the FBI “steadfastly declined” to take the hard drives when he “offered them on several occasions.”
“Keep in mind that the agents could not read the physical hard drives without plugging them in, but they took Mr. Giuliani’s word that the hard drives were copies of Hunter Biden’s hard drive and did not contain anything pertaining to Mr. Giuliani,” the statement said.
“Their reliance on Mr. Giuliani’s credibility tells you everything you need to know about this case.”
The raid was reportedly tied to an investigation into whether Giuliani illegally lobbied former Trump on behalf of officials and oligarchs in Ukraine — where the former mayor went to dig up dirt against then-candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
The probe grew out of the pending prosecution of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two business associates who allegedly helped introduce him to Ukrainian officials, and who are awaiting trial on unrelated campaign-finance charges, the New York Times reported.
The statement from lawyer Robert Costello described Wednesday’s action against Giuliani as an example of how the Justice Department is “running rough shod over the constitutional rights of anyone involved in, or legally defending, former President Donald J. Trump.”
“It is outrageous that the Trump Derangement Syndrome has gone so far that hatred has driven this unjustified and unethical attack on the United States Attorney and Mayor who did more to reduce crime than virtually any other in American history,” the statement said.
“Mr. Giuliani respects the law, and he can demonstrate that his conduct as a lawyer and a citizen was absolutely legal and ethical.”
The statement also said that the electronic devices seized from Giuliani are “replete with material covered by the attorney client privilege and other constitutional privileges.”
“The search warrants involve only one indication of an an alleged incident of failure to register as a foreign agent. Mayor Giuliani has not only denied this allegation, but offered twice in the past two years through his attorney Bob Costello to demonstrate that it is entirely untrue,” the statement says.
“Twice the offer was rejected by the SDNY by stating that while they were willing to listen to anything Mr. Costello had to say, they would not tell Mr. Giuliani or Mr. Costello, the subject matter they wanted him to address.”
The Manhattan US Attorney’s Office, which is conducting the probe, declined to comment on Wednesday’s raids of Giuliani’s apartment and law office.
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