Attorneys for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has officially complained that federal investigators are treating his client like the head of a drug trafficking organization or a terrorist, NBC New York reports.
Giuliani’s representatives wrote in a letter to a Manhattan federal judge who is currently considering whether or not to appoint a “special master” who can ensure that attorney-client privilege is protected while evidence gathered from Giuliani’s home and office are reviewed.
His attorneys claimed that the early-morning raids of Giuliani’s residence and office were unnecessary because he had already agreed to cooperate and answer questions on anything except privileged matters, but prosecutors “simply chose to treat a distinguished lawyer as if he was the head of a drug cartel or a terrorist, in order to create maximum prejudicial coverage of both Giuliani, and his most well known client – the former President of the United States.”
They claim that “Prior to the executions of the warrants at issue, prosecutors obtained the entirety of Giuliani’s iCloud, which certainly had communications with, and on behalf of, the sitting President, containing material relating to the impending impeachment, the welfare of the country, and to national security.”
The attorneys go on to claim that “The validity of the 2019 covert warrant, and the handling of the information obtained by the prosecutor are serious questions that must be resolved before any further damage is done,” according to CNBC.
“Moreover, the fruits of that 2019 search were certainly used in some part to secure the 2021 largely duplicative search warrant and subsequent seizures,” the letter continues. “It is for those reasons that it is premature to consider a special master before these critical issues are resolved.”
The attorneys add that the original warrant for Giuliani’s iCloud account included a nondisclosure order that was based on an allegation that Giuliani could destroy evidence or intimidate witnesses if he was aware of the warrant.
“Such an allegation, on its face, strains credulity. It is not only false, but extremely damaging to Giuliani’s reputation. It is not supported by any credible facts and is contradicted by Giuliani’s efforts to provide information to the Government. We should be allowed to question the Government as to what basis it had, if any, to make that assertion,” they said.
The attorneys went on to claim that the wide breadth of the warrants means that “it is virtually certain that the materials the Government received included substantial privileged and confidential information concerning clients and criminal matters that have nothing to do with this investigation, privileged and confidential information concerning unrelated other matters that are actively before the DOJ, and privileged and confidential information that is the subject of the warrants.”
A spokesperson for prosecutors declined to comment to NBC New York about the letter or its claims.
