Two Republican donors who reportedly have ties toRudy Giuliani‘s dealings inUkrainehave been arrested on campaign finance charges , a spokesman for the Manhattan US Attorney’s office has revealed.
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman are expected to appear in a federal court in Virginia later today after allegedly conspiring to “funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and state office” as well as making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and falsifying records – according to a federal court filing in New York.
Records show they used wire transfers from a corporate entity they controlled to make a $ 325, 000 donation to the America First Action committee, a superPAC that supports Donald Trump, in 2018.
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Meanwhile records that became public through a lawsuit show that the corporate entity reported as making the transaction was not the true source of the money.
Mr Giuliani and John Dowd, the lawyer for the two men, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr Parnas,a Ukrainian businessman and Mr Fruman, a real estate investor, have both become embroiled in the impeachment hearing ofDonald Trump– with the House of Representatives seeking both men’s testimonies in relation to the President’s dealings with Ukraine
However democrats confirmed before their arrest they would no longer be seeking testimony from Mr Parnas or Mr Fruman.
Both men are reported to have helped Mr Giuliani meet current and former Ukrainian prosecutors to discuss allegations against Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
Mr Giuliani is said to have identified the two men as his clients in May. Earlier that month images shared on Facebook show the pair meeting with the President, as well as his sonDonald Trump Jr, in separate meetings in the US capital.
Meanwhile Mr Giuliani and Mr Parnas were photographed together in September after a meeting in the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
Mr Giuliani has become increasingly caught up in the impeachment scandal surrounding Mr Trump over his dealings with Ukraine, after he was found to have been involved in interactions between Kiev and Washington despite not holding a diplomatic role in the president’s administration.
The inquest centers around whether the president applied pressure to the leader of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to force him into investigating his political rival Mr Biden
The president and his lawyer have repeatedly implied the former vice-president pressured the government of Ukraine to sack the nation’s prosecutor general, who was investigating a company which had his son on the board.
No proof has yet been provided to support the claims against the 2020 presidential candidate or his son.
It comes after both Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman were named among a group of businessmen and donors working to install new management at the top of the former-Soviet country vast state gas company – Naftogaz.
Their plan was to reportedly then steer contracts to companies controlled by Trump allies, according to two sources with knowledge of the plans who spoke to (AP.)
They were also said to be supported by by U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, whose slate of candidates included a fellow Texan who is one of Perry’s past political donors.
There is currently no allegation the groups’s actions were linked to any illegal activity.
During the same period they were pursuing the Naftogaz deal, the two were also coordinating with Giuliani to set up meetings with Ukrainian government officials and push for an investigation of the Bidens.
Additional reporting by AP.
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