Federal prosecutors decline to file charges against Rudy Giuliani following FBI raid - ABC News
Federal prosecutors in New York said Monday they have declined to file criminal charges against former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, more than a year after his apartment and office were searched by the FBI.
The grand jury investigation has concluded "and that based on information currently available to the Government, criminal charges are not forthcoming," prosecutors said in a letter to the court.
Prosecutors asked the court to end the appointment of Barbara S. Jones, the retired federal judge who had been appointed special master in the case.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan had been deciding whether Giuliani, one of Trump's lawyers and a close adviser, violated lobbying laws when he campaigned for the ouster of then-U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch from Ukraine.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks during a Get Out the Vote Bus Tour campaign event for Republican gubernatorial nominee for New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., on Nov. 1, 2022.Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images, FILE
The FBI seized more than a dozen devices from Giuliani's home and office during a search in April 2021. Jones had been reviewing the contents.
Giuliani "was very pleased" when he learned Monday he would face no foreign lobbying charges, his attorney told ABC News.
The attorney, Bob Costello, said he informed Giuliani shortly after the U.S. attorney's office issued its letter.
"We are very pleased that they did this," Costello said. "I'm not surprised that they did this because I saw the evidence, or lack thereof, and knew Rudy Giuliani didn't do anything wrong."
"They deviated from office policy by issuing a statement like this, which is very nice, because there's a memorialization now that Rudy Giuliani didn't do anything wrong in Ukraine." Costello added he wished prosecutors had done it sooner.
Rudy Giuliani arrives at the Fulton County Courthouse on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, in Atlanta.John Bazemore/AP, FILE
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment beyond the letter that was filed on the public docket.
Costello had denied any wrongdoing by his client speaking to ABC News at the time Giuliani's home and office were raided last year.
"They're trying to make Rudy Giuliani look like a criminal. He has done nothing wrong," Costello said in April 2021.
On April 28, 2021, Giuliani was awoken by federal agents at 6 a.m. at his home on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Costello told ABC News. Agents took electronic devices, including Giuliani's cellphone, while at his office they seized devices, including a computer belonging to longtime Giuliani assistant Jo Ann Zafonte, Costello said.
Giuliani, though he is now off the hook in the Southern District of New York, he remains a target of criminal investigators in Georgia over his role in seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
ABC News' Lucien Bruggeman, Olivia Rubin, Mark Crudele and John Santucci contributed to this report.
No charges? Will they reimberse Giuliani for those devastating legal fees?
This was a atrocious way to treat was arguably the best Mayor the city of New York ever had and the man who broke the back of American organized crime in NYC. We know why they did it. It was simply because Giuliani's last role in life was in service to Donald Trump.
meh, what's the point? disbarred, disgraced and broke. why waste taxpayer money on some old washed up POS that likely won't live long enough to be sentenced, especially after georgia gets done squeezing his rancid grapes.
He was treated exactly the way he should have been treated. Those glory days are long in the past. What a nasty tumble he took. He's the one who threw his reputation down the crapper. No one else.
it continues to be a hilarious career death spiral...
I guess this means he wont have to have hand to hand combat with the radical left communists in the deep state Congress then.
That will be left to those on the right of Kevin McCarthy.
yeah, let's see who's willing to strap on those maga kneepads and bibs now...
How do you feel about MAGA Republicans?
walking compost and mass extinction within 2 years. deathsantis won't be adopting that brand after the mar-a-lardo flatulence machine shoots his mouth off today and predetermines the results of the georgia runoff.
Duly noted.
Curious , sensible minds wonder what he was doing "lobbying" for the ouster of a US ambassador that was doing her job.
Was she?
Democrats always forget little things when they don't hold the White House.
Like ambassadors serve at the behest of the President, and can be removed at any time for any reason.
.
That US Attorneys serve at the will of the President and can be removed at any time for any reason.
It is truly sad when people hate someone so much that they use/misuse the law to punish all those connected to that person.
It is tragic that Giuliani has taken his image as a national hero who led NY in it's darkest hour and turned it into a shill for Trump's lies. I think that it his failed marriage and alcohol that led to his disgraceful behavior. A sad end to a previously successful career as a public servant.
I dont take the position that just because someone is not convicted of a crime they are "innocent". Giuliani tried to steal the 2020 election on behalf of Trump. He will forever be associated with disdain and shame over that.
One grand jury deciding not to charge him is immaterial to that.
I agree with that John. We will always have DC juries and the Simpson Jury as the prime examples. I think Tulsi Gabbard agrees as well. She sat in for Tucker Carlson last night.
Man, has she fallen.
Yet, the Clintons.
Very sad/lonely people who need more in their lives than a target to hate...