NEWS: The Justice Department's long-running investigation into Rudy Giuliani is creating problems for lobbyists with foreign clients and other political consultants suspected of working with the former New York mayor. ($) @thisisinsider businessinsider.com/rudy-giuliani-…
In the months leading up to today's search, DOJ sent a "blizzard" of requests for info from lobbying & public affairs firms that ?ed whether they had failed to address Giuliani's activities in disclosures of their own foreign influence work, per a person familiar w/ the probe.
The questioning came in the form of so-called "letters of inquiry," which the Justice Department regularly sends when it believes an individual or firm might be required to register as a foreign agent in connection with influence activities.
DOJ's flurry of inquiries — Insider could not confirm the precise number or the recipients — came as it approached an aggressive step in its investigation into whether Giuliani illegally lobbied the Trump administration in 2019 on behalf of Ukrainian oligarchs and officials.
While DOJ officials have declined to confirm or even clarify the scope of their interests with Giuliani, making a move like the one made Wednesday on someone of Giuliani's stature struck a nerve among longtime DC insiders.
"I think people should raise their eyebrows and recognize this could be much more serious than has been advertised so far," a former senior Trump White House official told Insider.
Check out the full report from @cryanbarber @davelevinthal @cdechalus and me w/ a subscription to @thisisinsider - Click from here to sign up: businessinsider.com/rudy-giuliani-…
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