The New York Times reports:

In the final months of the Trump administration, senior Justice Department officials repeatedly sought to block federal prosecutors in Manhattan from taking a crucial step in their investigation into Rudolph W. Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine, delaying a search warrant for some of Mr. Giuliani’s electronic records, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The actions by political appointees at the Justice Department in Washington effectively slowed the investigation as it was gaining momentum last year.

In the final months of 2020, the prosecutors were still delving into whether Mr. Giuliani had illegally lobbied the Trump administration on behalf of Ukrainian officials and oligarchs who had helped him look for dirt in 2019 on Joseph R. Biden Jr., then a leading Democratic candidate, the people said. [Continue reading…]