Response to the HEAT
Feds arrest pair that helped Giuliani in Ukraine sleuthing
by Jerry Dunleavy | October 10, 2019 12:07 PM
https://web.archive.org/web/20191010181043/https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/feds-arrest-pair-that-helped-giuliani-in-ukraine-sleuthing
Authorities arrested a pair of Soviet-born donors to President Trump who his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, enlisted to investigate the business activities in Ukraine of Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden.
Russian-born Lev Parnas and Ukrainian-born Igor Fruman are expected to appear in federal court in Virginia on Thursday after being arrested Wednesday.
Parnas and Fruman are both South Florida businessmen who have worked with Giuliani to push allegations of corruption related to Joe Biden’s actions as vice president while Hunter Biden received a lucrative position on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings.
Parnas and Fruman were essential in helping Giuliani make connections in Ukraine as he pursued information related to the Bidens. One or both of the men accompanied Giuliani on many of his trips and meetings in Ukraine and in the United States throughout 2019. Giuliani and Parnas both met Kurt Volker, a special envoy to Ukraine, for breakfast in Washington, D.C., on July 19. Volker later testified to House committees that Giuliani “mentioned both the accusations about Vice President Biden and about interference in the 2016” and that Giuliani “stressed that all he wanted to see was for Ukraine to investigate what happened in the past and apply its own laws.” Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky happened a week later. Parnas previously dined with Trump in 2018.
The two businessman were targets of the House Democrat impeachment inquiry, and they are both represented by former Trump lawyer John Dowd, who said his clients did not plan to respond to document requests nor appear for depositions.
Parnas and Fruman gave a total of $325,000 to America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC, much of it through a separate company called Global Energy Producers. Federal investigators believe at least part of that were improper straw donations — contributions made to hide the names of the actual donors or to skirt federal rules on campaign contribution limits.
The Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint in June 2018 alleging a series of likely campaign violations and shady foreign connections related to Parnas, Fruman, Global Energy Producers, and America First Action.