Another Ex-Trump Lawyer Raided By Feds As Criminal Probe Intensifies

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In addition to the Wednesday raids by federal authorities at the Manhattan home and office of ex-Trump lawyer and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, federal authorities have also raided the D.C.-area home of Victoria Toensing, a right-wing operative who — among other things — was involved in the failed Trump effort to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory. The raids on both Giuliani and Toensing were connected to an ongoing federal investigation into whether at least Giuliani broke federal law in possible advocacy on behalf of certain overseas interests.

Under federal law — specifically, the Foreign Agents Registration Act — individuals lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of foreign officials must notify the Justice Department. Giuliani is suspected of possibly acting at the behest of foreign interests when he successfully pressured then-President Donald Trump to fire Marie Yovanovitch from her role as U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. As summarized by The New York Times, “prosecutors have explored whether [Giuliani] was working not only for Mr. Trump, but also for Ukrainian officials or businesses who wanted the ambassador to be dismissed for their own reasons.”

Giuliani, alongside other allies of the then-president, pressured Trump into firing Yovanovitch while the Trump team tried to pressure Ukraine into investigating the Bidens. Trump’s attempt to, with the help of intermediaries, bribe Ukraine into investigating the Bidens was the focus of the first round of impeachment proceedings against him, when the House charged him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Toensing was, among others, involved in the Trump camp’s effort to get meaningful dirt on the Bidens out of Ukraine, and she “has also represented Dmitry Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch under indictment in the United States whose help Mr. Giuliani sought,” as the Times notes.

Back in November of last year, Trump also identified Toensing as a part of the legal team that he had assembled to challenge the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, which he falsely claimed had been fraudulently swung to Joe Biden. At the time, Trump also named Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, and others as part of the team. Toensing never took on a role as prominent as the one held by Giuliani, who — alongside Ellis — traveled around the country in an attempt to convince local leaders that systematic fraud had unfolded. No remotely meaningful evidence of the alleged systematic election fraud ever emerged.