CBS News: Feds Execute Search Warrant At Rudy Giuliani's New York City Home
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Federal agents raided former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's home on Wednesday morning.
CBS2's Andrea Grymes has learned it was part of an ongoing investigation into Giuliani's dealings in Ukraine.
As he defended his father on Wednesday afternoon, Andrew Giuliani said an Obama-era judge signed off on the search warrant.
"This is disgusting. This is absolutely absurd and it's the continued politicization of the Justice Department that we have seen," Andrew Giuliani said.
READ MORE: Andrew Giuliani, Son Of Rudy Giuliani, Announces Plans To Run For Governor Of New York
His words came after the morning raid at Rudy Giuliani's Upper East Side apartment.
CBS News earlier confirmed federal investigators executed a search warrant at the former mayor's home and office.
"Any American, whether you're red or blue, should be extremely disturbed by what happened here today," Andrew Giuliani said.
The raid caught Upper East Side neighbors by surprise.
"I'm stunned because I did know him when he was mayor," neighbor Michelle Herbert said.
During the search, federal agents seized electronic devices.
"If this can happen to the former president's lawyer, this can happen to any American. Enough is enough," Andrew Giuliani said.
The 76-year-old Giuliani has been under the watch of prosecutors with the southern district of New York since 2019 over whether he broke lobbying laws in his dealings with Ukraine while working as former president Donald Trump's personal attorney.
In October 2019, federal investigators were reportedly said to be looking into Rudy Giuliani's business dealings with two associates who pleaded not guilty to campaign finance violations.
At the time, Rudy Giuliani said he was unaware of any investigation.
READ MORE: Defamation Lawsuit: Dominion Voting Systems Sues Rudy Giuliani For $1.3 Billion
Rudy Giuliani was central to finding information on then-Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who had served on the board of a Ukranian energy company while his father was vice president.
"We're seeing evidence of corruption unheard of before," Rudy Giuliani said in September 2019.
"The only piece of evidence that they did not take up there today, was the only piece of incriminating evidence that is in there, and it doesn't not belong to my father. It belongs to the current president's son," Andrew Giuliani said.
I concur that Rudy Giuliani is in deep trouble
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) April 28, 2021
Last year, federal prosecutors requested a search warrant for records, including some of Rudy Giuliani's communications, but officials in the Trump administration's Justice Department reportedly did not approve that request.
Even in the face of a federal investigation, Rudy Giuliani repeated baseless claims of fraud in the last presidential election.
FLASHBACK: NYS Bar Association Seeks Giuliani Ban Over 'Combat' Remarks
Federal agents also executed a search warrant at the Washington, D.C.-area home of Victoria Toensing, a prominent attorney and Republican Party operative who has worked with Rudy Giuliani.
Political experts ay the raid represents a major escalation of the Justice Department's probe into the business dealings of a man once famed as America's mayor.
"My guess is that the prosecutors were somewhat suspicious that there's something that he hasn't been turning over voluntarily, and they tried to get it this way, in a surprise way, so that he was unable to manipulate," said CBS News legal contributor Rebecca Roiphe.
On MSNBC, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pushed back at accusations that Wednesday's raid is political targeting, saying she did not know it was coming.
"What I can assure you, that what is new, what may feel different in this administration, is that the Justice Department is independent. The president made that clear when he announced the nomination of Merrick Garland," Psaki said.
An attorney for Rudy Giuliani responded Wednesday night, saying the Justice Department should be investigating Hunter Biden, not Giuliani.
CBS2's Jessica Layton contributed to this report.