U.S. Attorney Charge Giuliani Associates with Violating Campaign Finance Rules

October 10, 2019 3:44 pm EDT Tiff News Commentary 4
Rudy Giuliani Wizard of Oz parody by Lenny Ghoul.

The Wall Street Journal reported that two men, Lev Parnas, and Igor Fruman, have been arrested for “violating campaign finance rules, including funneling Russian money into President Trump’s campaign.”

The Washington Post is reporting that in May, personal attorney to President Trump, Rudy Giuliani, identified Parnas and Fruman, as his clients.

Both the Journal and Post are reporting that these two Florida businessmen helped Giuliani’s efforts to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden regarding the work that Hunter Biden did at a Ukraine gas company.

According to the unsealed indictment the two engaged in a “scheme to funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and State office,” in attempt to buy potential influence with “candidates, campaigns, and the candidates government.”

The Wall Street Journal, who was the first to report the arrests and charges explains that both Parnas, and Fruman, have donated to Republican campaigns, including that of President Trump’s.

In May of 2018 they gave $325,000 to the primary “pro-Trump super PAC, America First Action, through an LLC called Global Energy Producers, according to Federal Election Commission records.”

Both the Post and the Journal are reporting the pair had been under investigation by the Southern District of New York’s Attorney General’s Office.

What Twitter reporters are saying.

Authors notes will appear above the tweets.

Wall Street Journal Reporter Rebecca Ballhaus who covers the White House.

Note the image used was a photo taken on September 20th, not yesterday.

Washington Post reporter Rachel Weiner.

MSNBC News Producer Kyle Griffin.

According to NBC News court reporter Tom Winter Congressman 1 is former Congressman Pete Sessions.

CBS News Radio broadcaster Steven Portnoy.

Yovanovich the former Ukraine Ambassador who was recalled in May prior to her term ending, by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is scheduled to sit for a deposition before the three House Committees leading the Impeachment Inquiry.

There has been several reporters and pundits that have confused the masses as to whether or not the White House can block her from testifying.

Russian Media Analyst Julia Davis.

Rawstory includes a link to public records posted by the Federal Election Commission that shows a $2,700 to McCarthy’s reelection campaign.

SDNY U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman held a presser this afternoon to discuss the charges.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in his statement.

As alleged in the Indictment, the defendants broke the law to gain political influence while avoiding disclosure of who was actually making the donations and where the money was coming from.  They sought political influence not only to advance their own financial interests but to advance the political interests of at least one foreign official – a Ukrainian government official who sought the dismissal of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.  Protecting the integrity of our elections – and protecting our elections from unlawful foreign influence – are core functions of our campaign finance laws.  And as this Office has made clear, we will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those who engage in criminal conduct that draws into question the integrity of our political process.

SDNY U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The pair were arrested around 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Dulles airport as they were about to board an international flight with one-way tickets. Where they were traveling to was not named.

Also charged in the indictment were Andrey Kukushkin who was arrested in CA and David Correia, who is still at large.

As noted in the Journal article linked above Parnas and Fruman are represented by lawyer John Dowd.

Dowd is the former attorney for President Trump.

For What It’s Worth.

I have not concluded my reading of the indictment thus far.

It’s being reported that the House Committees handling the Impeachment Inquiry have subpoenaed records from Parnas and Fruman on Thursday.

Dowd last week received a round of Twitter mocking when he issued a letter to decline answer to the Committees request using Comic Sans Font.

In the there is always a tweet file hat-tip to Lenny Ghoul.

For those wondering where Giuliani’s statements are regarding the arrest of those men he called clients in May are. His latest tweet.

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About Tiff 2554 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.