Federal investigators interested in Giuliani’s work for Romania: report

Federal agents are reportedly looking into former President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s work relating to Romania as part of their probe into his connections with Ukraine, indicating the investigation has a larger scope than previously believed.

Sources close to the matter told Politico that federal investigators had asked questions about connections Giuliani had to Romania as part of his work.

In 2018, Giuliani wrote a letter to Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, criticizing the “continuing damage to the rule of law being done under the guise of effective law enforcement,” referring to Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate, a government agency tasked with investigating corruption-related crimes.

His letter appeared to contradict the U.S. State Department’s position on anti-corruption efforts in the country.

Politico notes that Giuliani did not disclose in his letter that he had written it on behalf of the Freeh Group, a consulting group founded by former FBI Director Louis Freeh.

A spokesperson for Iohannis told Politico that he never responded to Giuliani’s letter.

Robert Costello, a lawyer for Giuliani, told Politico by text message, “No idea about that. We have no such information,” when reached for comment.

Politico notes that Gabriel “Puiu” Popoviciu, a Romanian property mogul, had hired Freeh in 2016 to review the evidence against him in a real estate fraud case. He had also hired President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, in 2015 to help end the fraud investigation, though the younger Biden reportedly stopped working for him before Giuliani’s involvement began.

When reached for comment, Popoviciu told Politico, “I don’t know anything about [Giuliani’s] interest in Romania. I met him there when he was invited by a private group for a speach [sic], but never kept a direct contact.”

Last month federal investigators searched Giuliani’s apartment as part of an investigation looking into his dealings with Ukraine. On Monday, Giuliani asked a federal judge to block prosecutors from reviewing the documents that were seized from his home.

“Before any further review (including by a Special Master) and any further damage is done to the public’s confidence in the confidentiality of their communications with counsel, the issue of the constitutionality and legality of the government’s conduct to this point in the investigation must be resolved,” attorneys for Giuliani wrote.