The investigation into Rudy Giuliani’s foreign lobbying efforts in Ukraine may be expedited after the former attorney unlocked several devices collected by prosecutors to use as evidence.
Officials had collected 18 electronic devices from Giuliani’s home and office during a raid last April as part of an investigation into whether he violated foreign lobbying laws while working for the Trump administration in 2019. Giuliani has reportedly met with prosecutors over the past several weeks to give them passwords to the locked devices, possibly leading to a quicker resolution.
The investigation has been slow-going for nearly a year, as the FBI has reported not being able to gain access to five of Giuliani’s devices that were seized as evidence. As of Jan. 21, special master Barbara Jones said at least eight devices had been reviewed and turned over to the government for review, including more than 25,000 chats and messages that were not deemed to be protected under attorney-client privilege.
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Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating whether Giuliani failed to acknowledge his role in pushing Ukrainian interests, such as his insistence to oust former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch while also pursuing an investigation into Hunter Biden’s dealings in Ukraine.
However, Giuliani has maintained his innocence, arguing all of his actions were done in his capacity as former President Donald Trump’s attorney and that he “never represented a Ukrainian national or official before the United States government.” The former New York City mayor has reportedly offered to sit down with investigators to offer testimony in hopes of a quicker outcome.
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“If you are innocent, you don’t have anything to hide, and you don’t want allegation of a criminal investigation hanging over your head,” said Robert Costello, Giuliani’s lawyer. “You do things like giving passwords to electronic devices that we had no obligation to. If we thought there was anything bad on those devices, we wouldn’t do it. His actions speak louder than words.”
Although the timeline of the investigation is unclear, officials told CNN it is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks after investigators look over the evidence obtained from the electronic devices. After that, the Justice Department is responsible for deciding whether to press charges, as foreign lobbying falls under the purview of national security.
