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What the Giuliani raid meant for Ukraine ties
Summary
A retrospective on the federal search of Rudy Giuliani's home, linked to the 2019 Trump–Ukraine scandal.
What happened on 28 April 2021 at the home of Rudy Giuliani? Federal investigators raided it over suspected illegal lobbying of the federal government on behalf of Ukrainian officials, as reported at the time.
Giuliani was described as the former personal lawyer of former President Donald Trump. The raid was tied to the 2019 Trump–Ukraine scandal.
The scandal behind the search
That scandal arose primarily from Trump's attempts to coerce Ukraine into investigating his political rival Joe Biden. The aim was potentially to damage Biden's campaign for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination.
Trump enlisted surrogates in and outside his administration, including Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr, to pressure Ukraine and other governments. They were to support the Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory and other conspiracy theories concerning U.S. politics.
Trump also blocked payment of a congressionally mandated $400 million military aid package. The aim was to obtain quid pro quo cooperation from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Contacts between the White House and the government of Ukraine culminated in a phone call between Trump and Zelenskyy on 25 July 2019.
The search of 28 April 2021 brought that earlier episode back into the news, this time as a matter for federal investigators examining suspected lobbying on behalf of Ukrainian officials.
