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How Giuliani Associates Bought Their Way to Top of Republican Party

Masood Farivar

   WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump says he doesn't know the two
   Soviet-born associates of his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who were
   indicted on charges of campaign finance violation Thursday.

   "I don't know those gentlemen," Trump said Thursday, referring to
   Ukrainian-born Lev Parnas and Belarus-born Igor Fruman. "Now, it's
   possible I have a picture with them, because I have a picture with
   everybody."

   In fact, records paint a much closer relationship, highlighting how the
   two Florida-based businessmen bought their way to the top echelons of
   the Republican party with hundreds of thousands of dollars in
   contributions to pro-Trump Republican campaigns.

   As early as March 2018, Fruman attended a donor meeting with Trump at
   the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, [1]Fruman
   told the Russian news site ForumDaily. About 200 prospective donors to
   Trump's 2020 reelection bid were in attendance.

   "In the 2016 elections, I made donations to Trump's election campaign
   fund, and now, a year after taking over the presidency, Trump decided
   it was right again to invite us and turn to his supporters," Fruman
   boasted.

   Staunch supporters

   Fruman and Parnas were not just giving money to Republican campaigns.
   The two staunch Trump supporters eventually became foot soldiers in
   Giuliani's campaign to dig up political dirt on Trump's Democratic
   rivals. As part of that effort, they also sought to glean information
   for a largely debunked theory that Ukraine officials tried to rig the
   2016 election in favor of Democrat Hillary Clinton, contrary to the
   U.S. intelligence community's finding that Russia worked behind the
   scenes to help Trump win the election.

   "They were directly dealing with Giuliani, and Giuliani was directly
   dealing with the president," said Kenneth McCallion, a former federal
   prosecutor and defense lawyer for Ukraine's former Prime Minister Yulia
   Tymoshenko.

     So now they are after the legendary "crime buster" and greatest
     Mayor in the history of NYC, Rudy Giuliani. He may seem a little
     rough around the edges sometimes, but he is also a great guy and
     wonderful lawyer. Such a one sided Witch Hunt going on in USA. Deep
     State. Shameful!
     -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [2]October 12, 2019

   In the days since House Democrats announced an impeachment inquiry into
   Trump, Fruman and Parnas have emerged as figures of immense interest to
   investigators. Although not mentioned by name, they are referenced in
   the whistleblower complaint at the heart of the inquiry.

   On Thursday, shortly after prosecutors announced the indictment of
   Fruman and Parnas along with two others, three House of Representative
   committees leading the inquiry subpoenaed the two men for documents
   related to the investigation.

References

   1. https://bit.ly/2OO5QW6
   2. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1183037520503885824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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