US Judge Denies Giuliani’s Request to Return, Destroy Seized Evidence, Reports Say

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - A US federal judge denied a request by former New York City mayor and Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to have the latter's seized electronic devices returned or destroyed, the Wall Street Journal reported.

On April 28, the FBI raided the homes of Giuliani and his colleague Victoria Toensing, seizing cell phones and computers to assist in ongoing investigations, prompting the two to file objections against any review of the content on the devices. In May, a special master was appointed to review whether any material seized by the FBI at Giuliani's home and office was protected under attorney-client privilege.

The US federal judge’s decision will allow prosecutors to continue their review of Giuliani’s communications with former Ukrainian officials, to determine whether the disbarred lawyer was in violation of foreign lobbying rules as he allegedly sought to remove a US ambassador from Kiev, the report said on Friday.

The judge’s decision also excluded from the special master’s review all documents that predate 2018, the report said.

Federal prosecutors are currently probing whether Giuliani pushed the ouster of the US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, on behalf of Ukrainian officials, to obtain information on US President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Giuliani later complained that the only device the FBI refused to take, despite being repeatedly offered, contains information that the former politician claims is evidence of crimes committed by Hunter Biden.