Rudy Giuliani Says He Wants Secret FBI Search Warrants Unsealed on His iCloud, Challenging Their Legality

Rudy Giuliani’s defense lawyers have formally demanded access to the confidential government documents used to obtain search warrants for his home, office and iCloud account.

His legal team, led by attorneys Robert Costello and Arthur Aidala, questioned the constitutionality of the federal warrants, arguing that the covert seizure of data from a personal attorney to a former president violates the attorney-client privilege and risks exposing sensitive communications regarding national security and impeachment proceedings.

The disgraced former New York City mayor’s lawyers stated that the 2019 covert warrants for his iCloud account swept up a vast array of confidential communications with Donald Trump, spanning topics like national security and the impending impeachment.

Giuliani served as Trump’s personal attorney starting in 2018, defending him during the Russia investigation and later leading efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.

He has been permanently disbarred from practicing law in both New York and Washington, D.C., following judicial rulings that concluded he repeatedly made false and dishonest statements to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The defense team requested that a Manhattan federal judge order prosecutors to unseal and disclose the underlying search warrant affidavits. This is a rare legal move designed to review whether there was a legitimate, constitutional basis for the searches.

In court filings submitted to Manhattan federal court Judge J. Paul Oetken, the lawyers argued that federal authorities treated Giuliani like a "terrorist" or "drug boss" by executing covert raids instead of utilizing standard subpoenas.

Giuliani asked the court to temporarily block prosecutors from reviewing any of the thousands of seized records while the constitutionality of the warrants is adjudicated.

Federal prosecutors strongly rejected the defense arguments in subsequent filings. They emphasized that being an attorney does not grant immunity from a criminal investigation.

The government urged the judge to deny the request to unseal the search warrant affidavits, arguing that disclosure would jeopardize an ongoing investigation.

To ensure constitutional rights and privilege were protected, prosecutors proactively asked the court to appoint an independent special master to review the seized electronic devices and filter out any legally privileged communications before investigative teams could view them.

The federal investigation, spearheaded by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, targeted whether Giuliani violated foreign lobbying laws — specifically the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) — during his 2019 dealings with Ukrainian figures.

During this timeframe, Giuliani was seeking politically damaging information about Joe Biden while simultaneously lobbying for the removal of the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine.

A parallel challenge was mounted by fellow Trump ally and attorney Victoria Toensing, whose electronic devices and Google and iCloud accounts were swept up in identical 2019 covert warrants.

The 82-year-old former mayor's legal team recently stated that he remains "very unhealthy," following a near-fatal bout of viral pneumonia that left him hospitalized on a ventilator earlier this year.