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Rudy Giuliani just went on his radio show in an effort to set the record straight about what led the FBI to raid his NYC pad and office.

Rudy said Thursday on his WABC radio show that reports the search warrant's tied to allegations he played middle man between Ukrainian officials and Donald Trump ... are FALSE.

Instead, he claims the feds came knocking because he allegedly failed to file as a foreign agent prior to dealing with Ukraine -- which he said was also false.

What's more ... Giuliani claimed he tried to clear this up with the Justice Department for the last 2 years, but they ignored him. Rudy said that over the last 2 years he was willing to prove as much ... but claims the Justice Department ignored him.

In all, he claims he made 3 attempts to squash the whole Ukraine drama -- 2 years ago, 1 year ago and 6 months ago. What's interesting about all of those dates is that they were all under President Trump's administration.

Rudy, who in November 2019 said anyone that tries locking him up will come away embarrassed, the feds instead decided to raid his home at 6 in the morning.

Ahmaud Arbery's mother is squashing her beef with an organization that's been raising funds in her son's name, but without her permission -- they've settled the dispute without going to court.

Wanda Cooper's lawyer, J. Carter, tells TMZ ... Ahmaud's mom settled her trademark dispute with the 2:23 Foundation last week, avoiding the hassle of a lawsuit.

As we first told you, Wanda claimed the 2:23 Foundation was using her son's name and likeness ... hauling in massive amounts of cash donations even though she hadn't given her blessing.

We're told the settlement terms call for the 2:23 Foundation to phase out their usage of the marks, for the org to be dissolved and for $345,306 in donations to be transferred to Wanda's newly established foundation, The Ahmaud Arbery Foundation.

Wanda's new foundation, we're told, is officially launching May 8 to coincide with Ahmaud's birthday.

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro ended up getting arrested because cops say his girlfriend had visible marks on her body when they showed up, responding to her call for help ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us it was actually Ronnie's girlfriend, Saffire Matos, who called the police that night ... after they'd gotten into some type of argument that allegedly got physical. We're told when officers arrived, they spoke to both parties, and determined Ronnie was the aggressor.

As for why ... our sources tell us officers observed visible marks on Saffire's body which they determined she sustained during the alleged fight. We're told that was one of multiple observations that spurred police to slap the cuffs on Ronnie.

This is interesting because it shows Saffire had enough of a problem with whatever was going on to actually pick up the phone and dial 9-1-1. Since Ronnie's arrest, she tried to downplay the alleged violence.

She posted a statement in the aftermath, telling her followers not to believe media accounts of what had happened, insisting she and Ronnie were "fine."

Ronnie's attorney, Scott Leemon, tells us, "We are still investigating the incident of last week and have not yet received any of the police reports. Therefore, we will continue not to comment while our investigation is still ongoing. As we have all learned in the past, initial reports can be and are often incorrect.”

Of course, as we reported, this is bad news for Ronnie ... who's been down this road before with his ex, Jenn Harley. He ended up getting probation in that DV case -- and a judge could deem this latest arrest a violation of that probation.

Speaking of Jenn ... she drove all the way from Vegas to come get her and Ronnie's daughter, once she heard he'd been arrested.

Marvin Scott III -- a 26-year-old Black man who died last month in a Texas jail after being restrained to a bed for several hours -- died as a result of homicide, according to the medical examiner.

Scott was arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession in a Dallas suburb on March 14, and though he was first taken to a local hospital for reportedly acting erratically ... he was later transported to the Collin County Jail in McKinney.

It was there Scott began "exhibiting some strange behavior" according to Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner, and officials say he was subsequently restrained, pepper-sprayed and had a spit mask put on his face by detention officers.

According to reports, sometime during the several hours of being restrained to a bed, Scott became unresponsive and was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Skinner called it a "profound tragedy" at a news conference.

But, Collin County's chief medical examiner, Dr. William Rohr, is calling it a homicide. According to Rohr, his findings show Scott's cause of death was "fatal acute stress response in an individual with previously diagnosed schizophrenia during restraint struggle with law enforcement."

Scott's family says he had schizophrenia and was experiencing a mental health crisis while in police custody, and family attorney Lee Merritt claims Scott was using marijuana at the time of his arrest "to self-medicate after being two years diagnosed with schizophrenia."

Merritt tells TMZ ... he got the news about Marvin's death being ruled a homicide around the same time he learned the suspects in Ahmaud Arbery's killing were being charged with federal hate crimes, so it was a bittersweet day.

Lee, who represents Arbery's family as well, adds ... "I now have another uphill battle, having to fight the system for justice. Again, the cycle continues."

Worth noting -- the Collin County sheriff announced earlier this month that 7 detention officers who were allegedly involved in Scott's death have been fired for violating department policies and procedures.

Rudy Giuliani's apartment and office in Manhattan were crawling with federal investigators Wednesday ... we've confirmed they just executed search warrants as part of a criminal investigation.

Our law enforcement sources tell us federal investigators seized Giuliani's electronic devices from his home and his Park Ave. office space as part of a criminal probe involving his alleged dealings with Ukraine.

As you know, the feds are looking to see if Rudy, the former New York City Mayor and Donald Trump's attorney, illegally lobbied the Trump administration in 2019 on behalf of officials and oligarchs in Ukraine ... while those same folks were allegedly helping Giuliani dig up dirt on Joe Biden and other Trump political rivals.

The FBI and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office had no comment on the raids. BTW, this is the same prosecutors' office Rudy once headed up back in the '80s.

The men already charged for the alleged murder of Ahmaud Arbery are now facing federal charges as well -- the U.S. Dept. of Justice just slapped them with hate crimes.

The U.S. DOJ announced Wednesday Travis and Gregory McMichael, as well as William "Roddie" Bryan, were indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple charges ... including interference with rights and attempted kidnapping.

The McMichaels face even more counts -- using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Travis was also indicted for discharging the firearm ... a Remington shotgun, according to prosecutors.

As it relates to the kidnapping claims -- the feds allege all 3 men attempted to unlawfully seize and confine Ahmaud by chasing after him in their trucks. Prosecutors claim they did this in an attempt to restrain him, restrict his free movement, corral and detain him against his will ... all while Ahmaud was running down a public street in Brunswick, GA.

The feds say Gregory McMichael also brandished a .357 Magnum revolver during the chaos.

The indictment also notes the McMichaels and Bryan are currently facing murder charges at the state level ... which is a separate case from these federal charges.

Ahmaud's mother, Wanda Cooper, tells TMZ she's grateful for the federal charges ... especially since this wasn't even a possible outcome not too long ago in the state of Georgia. It's only because of a new law they passed there last year that this could become a reality.

Kodak Black just pled guilty to first-degree assault and battery in his sexual assault case in South Carolina, and he's been sentenced to 18 months probation ... TMZ has learned.

The rapper was originally indicted on a felony charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, but his attorneys, Bradford Cohen and Beattie Ashmore, tell us Kodak copped a plea to a lesser charge to put the case behind him.

As we reported, Kodak was charged for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl back in February 2016 at a hotel. According to prosecutors, he pushed the girl into a wall and onto a bed before assaulting her, allegedly biting her breast and neck. Kodak had denied the allegations.

Ed Clements, the 12th Circuit Solicitor in Florence County, tells TMZ ... Kodak admitted in court he bit the girl, but apologized to her, on the record.

We're told Kodak was given a 10-year suspended prison sentence and placed on 18 months of supervised state probation.

While on probation, he will not wear an ankle monitor, but must let his probation officer know where he goes and where he lives.

The family's legal team is "deeply disappointed" by the judge's decision to keep the police footage from the public, saying ... "In this modern civil rights crisis where we see Black people killed by the police everywhere we look, video evidence is the key to discerning the truth and getting well-deserved justice for victims of senseless murders."

It adds ... "Just look at the murder of George Floyd – if the world had not seen that clear and disturbing footage, there might not have even been an ounce of accountability for those officers."

Brown's family lawyers vow to keep the pressure on until the body cam videos are made public and they "get to the truth."

All police body cam videos of Andrew Brown Jr.'s fatal encounter with cops in North Carolina will be viewed, but only by his family and not the media ... a judge just ruled.

The Pasquotank County judge just made the highly-anticipated and controversial decision after hearing arguments for the release of police video in the case of Brown's killing ... in which an autopsy revealed he was shot 5 times.

The judge ruled the footage should be available to the family within 10 days, but also ordered that the faces of any deputies and other identifying information in the video be blurred. The judge will reevaluate making it available to more eyes in 30-45 days.

As we reported ... Brown's family says it was one bullet to the back of his head that killed him, and the findings of the private autopsy released Tuesday show he also suffered 4 gunshot wounds to his right arm.

Brown's family and their legal team have been calling for the release of the full police body cam footage from last week's fatal shooting, claiming he was gunned down in an "execution" while cops were trying to execute a search warrant.

So far, the family says they've only seen a "snippet" of police body cam ... just 20 seconds of one deputy's body cam with the faces blurred of other deputies on the scene.

The family claims what they did see only confirms their belief Brown was murdered by cops. Since his killing, peaceful protests and demonstrations in Elizabeth City have continued daily ... with the mayor there declaring a state of emergency.

Britney Spears has a lot on her mind that she wants to tell the judge in her conservatorship case, and the biggest thing she wants to get off her chest is her dad's involvement in her life ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

Our sources say ... Britney is all but at war with her dad, Jamie. She is angry at him and has virtually no interaction with him anymore. A lot of this stems from her days growing up when Jamie was not present in her life. Britney's boyfriend, Sam Asghari, clearly shares her sentiment ... he's been open about his disdain for Jamie and what Sam calls his heavy-handed tactics.

We're told Britney has talked about how she wants her dad out of the conservatorship. As we reported, Jamie is no longer Britney's personal conservator, and he's sharing responsibilities managing her business affairs with a financial institution. Right now the only recurring business issues involve licensing and merchandising, so there's not much to do.

Our sources say Britney hasn't been specific about what she wants to say to the judge, but it's more likely than not she wants Jamie out entirely.

As you know, Britney has said she will not perform again unless Jamie is out of the conservatorship entirely, but that doesn't mean if he's out she will then perform. Fact is ... we know she hasn't talked to anyone in her camp about a desire to go back on stage, and she even said as much in a recent social media post.

We're told Britney has not expressed a desire to end the conservatorship, but it's almost certain that issue will be addressed when she appears before the judge ... addressed either by Britney or the judge.

One of the jurors on Derek Chauvin's trial says there was no pressure to reach a guilty verdict -- but does explain the most difficult part of the job ... seeing the videos on replay.

Brandon Mitchell -- Juror #52 on the case -- did an early blitz of interviews Wednesday morning ... sitting down with 'CBS This Morning' and 'Good Morning America.' He offered interesting insights on both, but told CBS what everyone's been wanting to know.

Gayle King asked Mitchell if he or his peers felt heat from the public to deliver guilty verdicts on all counts -- especially 2nd-degree murder, the heaviest of charges -- but he tells her straight up ... nope. He admits there was stress, but not the kind you might expect.

Watch for yourself ... sounds like the jurors stomachs turned every time they had to watch George Floyd die -- which happened countless times throughout the 3-week proceedings. You can also tell Mitchell took a lot of what was discussed at trial personally ... as he himself is a tall Black man, similar in stature to Floyd.

Robin Roberts asked another lingering question ... how were they able to reach consensus so quickly, and were there any holdouts??? Mitchell spilled on that as well -- and, surprisingly, he tells her there weren't any major hang-ups ... except on how to interpret the instructions.

Mitchell explains that once they went around the room and read the instructions back multiple times over ... the one juror who was hesitant finally came around, and the rest is history.

Britney Spears may once and for all tell the world how she feels about her 13-year-long conservatorship, because she wants some face time with the judge.

Britney's lawyer told the judge Tuesday his client has something to say, and it's not a stretch to believe there's some connection to the #FreeBritney movement and the documentary with the same sentiment.

Speaking of the #FreeBritney movement ... a woman in a bright pink t-shirt shaved her head, seemingly in solidarity with Britney ... a callback to the dark days when Britney was on the ropes which ultimately led to her being placed on a psychiatric hold.

Though the Britney fan is the only one who shaved her head -- as far as we know -- she's joined by many other members of the #FreeBritney movement that's been gaining steam for the past several months ... as the singer dukes in out in court with her father, Jamie, over the conservatorship.

As we've told you ... Britney has never challenged her conservatorship in the 13 years it's been in place. She's had issues with her dad, but she's never asked to pull the plug on the conservatorship.

That's why her lawyer's revelation in court today is so important ... with all the tumult surrounding the conservatorship -- including a war between Jamie Spears team and Lynne Spears -- it seems like the time is right for her to address the big issue.

Britney's been in court a number of times in the past and talked to the judge, but this one could be big.

The man charged with breaking into Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during the Capitol riots insists he wasn't calling her a "bitch" on paper -- he was just calling her his "biatch" ... so it's not nearly as bad as the feds are making it sound.

Richard Barnett is set to appear Tuesday in court to make that very argument for why he isn't a dangerous threat ... and should be cut loose pending trial. But, before he tells it to the judge, his attorneys filed docs, explaining this sort of slang defense.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Barnett's lawyers say prosecutors' claim he wrote "Nancy, Bigo was here, you bitch" on a sheet of paper on her desk is false. Instead, they assert he wrote ... "Hey Nancy Bigo was here biatd." To them, that last word was supposed to be, "biatch." If nothing else, he's guilty of poor penmanship.

The attorneys argue Barnett combined the "c" and the "h" at the end there -- and that he was going for the slang version of "bitch" ... which they note is not as offensive, and might even be considered endearing in some contexts.

Basically, his attorneys are saying he was just clowning around -- and didn't actually intend to harm and/or threaten her ... despite making himself at home and having his run of the place.

Barnett was previously denied bail ... but a lot of alleged Capitol rioters have been released from jail since then, based on rulings they do not pose flight risks or other dangers. With that in mind, Barnett's lawyers are hoping to get their client out ASAP.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump -- who's repping Andrew Brown Jr.'s family -- came on "TMZ Live" Tuesday to discuss the private autopsy results ... which he says jibes with what the family has seen, a flat-out execution.

Crump suggests there's a major cover-up at hand with this ... and it all seems to have started with what deputies told dispatchers when this all unfolded last week -- that Andrew was shot in the back, and not in the back of the head, which is what ultimately killed him.

It's just one more piece of an ugly puzzle that Crump says is coming together slowly but surely. Speaking of time, he made a point to explain why the Brown family is trying to get this body cam video uncovered publicly ASAP ... as opposed to letting it trickle out at the County's discretion.

He says he doesn't want people to forget Andrew Brown Jr. ... like so many other Black people who've been shot fleeing the police, whose stories came to light much later, after the fact.

Andrew Brown Jr. was shot 5 times during his fatal interaction with police, according to the autopsy ... and his family says it was one bullet to the back of the head that killed him.

Brown's family and attorneys released the findings of a private autopsy Tuesday, and they say he suffered 4 gunshot wounds to his right arm and one to his head.

The autopsy, performed Monday, says Brown died from the gunshot wounds ... and while the docs don't say which bullet killed him, the family believes it had to be the one to the head.

As we reported ... Brown's family is calling for the release of the full police body cam footage from last week's fatal shooting at the hands of sheriff's deputies in North Carolina.

The family says Brown, who was gunned down while police were trying to execute a search warrant, was killed in an "execution."

So far, the family has only seen a "snippet" of police body cam ... just 20 seconds of one deputy's body cam with the faces blurred of other deputies on the scene.

One family attorney says the video begins with Brown sitting in his car in his driveway, blocked in by police, with his hands on the steering wheel and deputies demanding to see his hands.

The fam says multiple cops were shooting at Andrew, and he tried backing out of the driveway to escape a hail of bullets, but ended up slamming into a tree.

Brown's killing has sparked protests and demonstrations in Elizabeth City and surrounding areas, with the mayor there declaring a state of emergency.

There's still no official word on when the shooting video will be revealed to the public, but 7 deputies were already placed on administrative leave, 2 resigned and one retired.

Britney Spears' father, Jamie, is going after her mother, Lynne, for objecting to the legal fees linked to the singer's conservatorship ... claiming Lynne has no idea what she's talking about and is not looking out for their daughter's best interests.

Jamie's attorneys at Holland & Knight LLP filed new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, calling out Lynne for "raising objections to fees related to matters that she has no knowledge of."

This is in response to Lynne filing legal docs last week objecting to 4 months of fees totaling $890k and requesting about a quarter of that be returned to Britney's estate. Lynne alleged the law firm was doing unnecessary and improper work as part of a "national media tour" to combat negative coverage.

But, Jamie's lawyers are clapping back, saying that their fees are legit and she's causing undue delay and expense while "stirring up more unnecessary media attention.

Holland and Knight adds ... "Lynne Spears is the one who exploited her daughter’s pain and trauma for personal profit by publishing a book about [Britney]," referring to her 2008 book, "Through the Storm."

Jamie's lawyers go on to accuse Lynne of making misleading and "seriously flawed objections" to H&K's fees, specifically her gripe about media-related matters.

H&K says Britney is a world-famous entertainer and adds, "this Conservatorship has always been, and continues to be, the subject of increasingly intense media scrutiny both in traditional news media as well as on social media and most recently documentary films." It claims its media-related work is necessary and litigation-based.

Wade Robson has taken another loss against Michael Jackson's companies -- a California court has once again thrown out his sexual abuse lawsuit ... but he says he's fighting the decision.

Judge Mark A. Young ruled in favor of MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures Monday, dismissing Robson's sexual abuse lawsuit on summary judgment ... something Robson had refiled in 2020 after California opened the door for alleged victims of sexual abuse with years-old claims.

In dismissing the case, the judge ruled that Robson couldn't prove the companies had the ability to control Jackson's conduct or that the companies had any fiduciary duty to protect Robson while he was with MJ in the '90s.

You'll recall ... another of Michael's accusers, James Safechuck, suffered a similar blow in his own lawsuit back in October of last year.

Like Safechuck, Robson's attorney, Vince Finaldi, plans to appeal this decision, saying ... "This decision of Judge Mark A. Young suffers from the same fatal flaws as the prior decision of prior Judge Mitchell Beckloff, which we were able to overturn on appeal."

He insists if the dismissal is allowed to stand, it'll set a "dangerous precedent that would leave thousands of children working in the entertainment industry vulnerable to sexual abuse by persons in places of power."

MJ's estate, of course, had a different reaction. One of the estate's attorneys, Jonathan Steinsapir, tells TMZ ... “Wade Robson has spent the last 8 years pursuing frivolous claims in different lawsuits against Michael Jackson's estate and companies associated with it."

Attorney Bakari Sellers is fired up over the delay in releasing the body cam footage that shows the police killing of Andrew Brown Jr. ... and he's fed up with Congress, too.

Sellers, who along with Ben Crump and Harry Daniels, is representing Brown's family ... is in North Carolina waiting to see the police video of what happened to Brown Jr. last Wednesday ... when the 42-year-old was shot in the back and killed by deputies during the execution of a search warrant.

Sellers says he was promised to be shown the footage earlier on Monday, but it hasn't happened yet ... allegedly because the authorities want to redact portions of it.

The attorney clearly isn't happy about that, but he's on a mission to use the situation to take on the system as a whole. Instead of protesting, he wants people to pick up the phone and call their elected officials.

Specifically, Sellers calls out Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema for not signing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act ... something he feels is an important step to ending police killings of Black men in America.

Brown was fatally shot by cops last week in Elizabeth City, where witnesses say he was driving away when deputies opened fire on him. After the shooting, 7 deputies were placed on administrative leave and 3 resigned.