Rudy Giuliani’s Arrested Ukraine Associates Were Frequent Guests At Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Resort
Two associates of Rudy Giuliani who were arrested while trying to flee the country were frequent guests at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, a new report claims.
On Wednesday, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were arrested at Washington’s Dulles airport on charges of violating campaign finance laws. As The Inquisitr reported, the two had a sudden and sharp rise within Republican circles as they became major donors, and both reportedly played a role in Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure the Ukrainian president into digging up dirt on Joe Biden as they worked closely with presidential lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman confirmed that the two were trying to leave the country at the time they were arrested, with authorities scrambling to arrest the pair amid fears that they could escape the country.
On Thursday, new ties began to emerge between both men and some high-ranking Republicans. Parnas donated $2,700 to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who has been one of the staunchest defenders of Donald Trump amid the impeachment inquiry launched after reports of pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son. Other Republican lawmakers were recipients of the thousands of dollars donated by the pair.
Some connected the two to the president. Former congressman Carlos Curbelo, a Republican from Florida, unveiled ties between the arrested men and Donald Trump’s business empire. In an interview with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, Curbelo revealed that the two had been active in Washington, lobbying lawmakers on cannabis policy, and were also frequent guests at the president’s luxury resort in Florida.
As Raw Story noted, Curbelo said that the pair even bragged about their close relationships with Trump.
“They did make it a point to say a few times that they had very good relationships with the White House, that they were frequent guests at Mar-a-Lago,” Curbelo said.
The pair are accused of making illegal straw donations to Republican lawmakers and the pro-Trump super PAC America First Action. Their actions also worked to help Ukrainian officials, Berman said in an announcement.
“They sell political influence not only to advance their own financial interests, but to advance the political interests of one foreign official, a Ukrainian government official who sought the dismissal of the U.S. ambassador to the Ukraine,” Berman said, via The Daily Beast.
Democrats in Congress have subpoenaed the arrested men for the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. The White House has stonewalled Congress, saying it will not cooperate with the inquiry and withholding information requested by congressional committees. It was not clear if Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman would respond to the subpoenas.
