Federal prosecutors on Monday declined to charge former New York City mayor and longtime Donald Trump ally Rudy Giuliani for his work with Ukrainian figures during the Trump administration. The decision ends a more than year-long investigation into whether he acted as an unregistered foreign agent as part of his efforts to aid the Trump administration by denigrating then-candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, for their Ukrainian dealings.
"In my business, we would call that total victory," attorney Robert Costello, who represented Giuliani in this case, told The Associated Press upon news of the prosecutors' decision.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In 2021 investigators searched Giuliani's home, and confiscated a number of his personal electronic devices, in what his attorney at the time called "legal thuggery." According to The New York Times, none of the evidence seized in that search was enough to yield definitive proof that Giuliani had broken the law. As they wrote in a memo to the presiding judge this week: "based on information currently available to the government, criminal charges are not forthcoming."
While Giuliani appears to have dodged a legal bullet in this instance, his actions to discredit the results of the 2020 presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump have led to the suspension of his law license in New York state, as well as placed him under ongoing investigation by Georgia officials.
-
Farage’s £9m windfall: will it smooth his path to power?In Depth The record donation has come amidst rumours of collaboration with the Conservatives and allegations of racism in Farage's school days
-
The issue dividing Israel: ultra-Orthodox draft dodgersIn the Spotlight A new bill has solidified the community’s ‘draft evasion’ stance, with this issue becoming the country’s ‘greatest internal security threat’
-
Sudoku hard: December 13, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Will there be peace before Christmas in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Discussions over the weekend could see a unified set of proposals from EU, UK and US to present to Moscow
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
