THE TIGHTENING NOOSE:

The scrutiny isn't just coming from the previously known probes by FBI agents and the U.S. attorney's office based out of Manhattan, according to two people familiar with the investigation. The criminal division of the Justice Department in Washington has taken an interest in the former New York mayor, too, meaning an expansion of resources that indicates the politically sensitive probe into the president's personal attorney is both broader and moving at a faster pace than previously understood.

Adding DOJ's criminal division to the Giuliani probe is sure to place additional scrutiny on William Barr, who as attorney general has final say over all department business. Already, Barr's reputation has taken hits over his handling of the public rollout on Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, with Democrats complaining he spun the special counsel's findings earlier this year to give them a pro-Trump flavor.

Giuliani's troubles aren't just his alone. He has turned members of the Trump team he's worked with over the last 18 months into potential witnesses for federal prosecutors, who are trying to unravel the tangled relationships he brought to the mix in advising the president while still juggling an international consulting business that promised proximity to the White House.

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