Alan Dershowitz Claims Giuliani Raid Was Political Revenge, Likens U.S. to ‘Banana Republic’
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Attorney Alan Dershowitz on Sunday criticized federal agents’ raid on Rudy Giuliani’s apartment last week, telling radio host John Catsimatidis that it was reminiscent of conduct seen in authoritarian countries.
“In banana republics, in Castro‘s Cuba, in many parts of the world when a candidate loses for president, they go after the candidate, they go after his lawyers, they go after his friends,” Dershowitz said. “That’s happening in America now. They’re going after Rudy Giuliani.”
Dershowitz, who served on President Trump’s impeachment defense team, claimed that a subpoena would have been more appropriate than a search warrant for Giuliani’s apartment. The attorney said he agreed to help represent Giuliani in his case.
“A search warrant on a lawyer or a doctor or a priest? You don’t use search warrants,” Dershowitz said. “You don’t use search warrants when people have privileged information on their cell phones and in their computers. You use a subpoena. The difference between a subpoena and a search warrant is like night and day….It’s just not constitutional.”
Federal agents seized electronic devices in an early-morning raid on Giuliani’s apartment on Wednesday, as part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation. Agents sought communications between Giuliani and a number of Ukrainian officials, along with evidence related to former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Investigators are reportedly pursuing a theory that Giuliani pushed to oust Yovanovitch as ambassador at the behest of Ukrainian government officials, in exchange for information on Biden family business dealings in Ukraine. Such an action could be considered a violation of federal lobbying laws, however Giuliani has strenuously denied the allegation.
“I never represented a Ukrainian national or official before the United States government. I’ve declined it several times,” Giuliani told Fox News’s Tucker Carlson on Thursday. “I’ve had contracts in countries like Ukraine. In the contract is a clause that says I will not engage in lobbying or foreign representation.”
