According to a report by NBC / New York, plans to raid the home of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani failed for months at the Justice Department and only came about because of new leadership under President Joe Biden.
On Thursday, Giuliani’s home and office was the subject of a raid in which federal agents “collected phones and computers to investigate whether he had violated US lobbying laws by failing to register as a foreign agent in connection with his work has “report states.
Those plans were put on hold by the Trump administration when the Justice Department was headed by Attorney General Bill Barr.
Under the Biden administration – and particularly under newly appointed Attorney General Merrick Garland – the Justice Department is dusting the files and conducting several stalled investigations.
According to NBC, “It’s not exactly clear why Justice Department officials chose this particular moment to strike, but it wasn’t atypical for the agency under new Attorney General Merrick Garland. The move was just one of a series of headline decisions by a department that quickly caught on in investigations and policy-making. “The FBI action in New York on Wednesday was particularly noteworthy both because of the high profile of the Giuliani investigation and because of the heated debate the question of the search warrant in the Justice Department of the Trump era had arisen. “
The report also points out that the prosecution was supposed to investigate Giuliani last fall, who had provided legal advice to former President Donald Trump. However, the US law firm broke out into disputes over the political implications of an upcoming election.
Any disagreement over the pursuit of Giuliani under the new leadership has been brushed aside, according to NBC.
“New York prosecutors wanted to issue an arrest warrant against Giuliani last fall to investigate whether he had not registered as a foreign agent for his dealings with Ukrainian officials. However, this request was rejected by officials in the Assistant Attorney General’s office in Washington. In a dispute over investigative tactics, they raised concerns both before and after the election and did not sign an arrest warrant, according to several people familiar with the matter, “the report said. “A new management team under Garland has apparently come to a different conclusion, although it is not clear why. New Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco and John Carlin, her senior assistant, both previously ran the department’s national security division, which is responsible for enforcing the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and are expected to be involved in the investigation as it moves forward. “
The report further notes that several investigations are in full swing under Garland, “including a tax investigation into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and an investigation into potential sex trafficking and public corruption by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.”
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