Former President Donald Trump expressed his displeasure on the FBI's investigation on his attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose Manhattan home and office was raided by authorities on Wednesday. Trump condemned the probe, calling it "very, very unfair" for someone he considered a "patriot."
"Rudy is a patriot who loves this country and I don't know what they're looking for, what they're doing," the 74-year-old former President of the United States told Fox Business Network during a phone interview, as per Reuters. "Rudy loves this country so much."
The report also revealed how the FBI is escalating its investigation of Giuliani's involvement in the Ukraine political scandal. In 2019, a grand jury subpoena revealed Giuliani's financial records, which showed FBI agents were looking into "possible money laundering, wire fraud, campaign finance violations, making false statements, obstruction of justice, and violations of the federal Foreign Agents Registration Act."
Giuliani, who was Trump's personal attorney, was once lauded as the mayor of New York City whose exemplary leadership after the 9/11 attacks were unparalleled. The 76-year-old later joined Trump's legal team in 2018 during which he defended the former president in a federal investigation regarding alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections, when Trump was pitted against Hillary Clinton.
During the FBI raid, authorities confiscated mobile phones and computers and other items that were deemed evidence. Giuliani's lawyer, Robert Costello, believed that the investigation into his client was "politically motivated," a fact that the White House has denied. CNBC reported that President Joe Biden was not informed beforehand of the FBI raid and that he "made a pledge I would not interfere in any way" with the Justice Department's investigation.
"It's so unfair and it's like a double standard like I don't think anybody's ever seen before," former President Trump commented, as per the Western Journal. Trump went on to accuse the Biden family for having overseas business interests that are not supported by proper documentation.
The former president spoke out in defense of Giuiliani while throwing accusations at the Biden family, saying that "they did a lot of work with other countries" but "to the best of everybody's knowledge, they didn't file" the necessary documents for these dealings.
Trump was obviously speaking about Hunter Biden's dealings with China and Ukraine, which were exposed via reports from the New York Post. Joe Biden was also implicated in these deals.
Trump expressed his disappointment over the FBI raid and investigation, questioning why the Justice Department would go after Giuliani when there are "things going on in our country with the corruption and the problems."
South Carolina's Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also came to Giuliani's defense, condemning the FBI raid and commenting that "Because somebody issues a search warrant doesn't mean you're guilty."
According to the New York Post, Costello fired back against the FBI raid in a statement accusing the justice system of "Trump Derangement Syndrome," in which "hatred has driven this unjustified and unethical attack on the United States Attorney and Mayor who did more to reduce crime than virtually any other in American history."
