- Title: Indicted Giuliani associate worked on behalf of Ukrainian oligarch Firtash
- Date: 11th October 2019
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (FILE - FEBRUARY 21, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF UKRAINIAN BUSINESSMAN, DMYTRO FIRTASH, WITH HIS WIFE, LADA FIRTASH, WALKING THOUGH COURT LOBBY SURROUNDED BY REPORTERS CAMERAMAN FILMING VARIOUS OF FIRTASH AMID CROWD OF REPORTERS VARIOUS OF FIRTASH IN COURTROOM SIGN ON CLOSED DOOR READING IN GERMAN "COURTROOM"/ZOOM OUT TO SECURITY CLOSING DOOR REPORTERS OUTSIDE COURTROOM FIRTASH LEAVING COURTROOM SURROUNDED BY REPORTERS
- Embargoed: 25th October 2019 22:09
- Keywords: Donald Trump Joe Biden Ukrainian oligarch Lev Parnas Rudy Giuliani Dmytro Firtash
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA AND ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES
- City: VIENNA, AUSTRIA AND ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0NNTJB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: One of the two Florida businessmen who helped U.S. President Donald Trump's personal attorney investigate his political rival, Democrat Joe Biden, also has been working for the legal team of a Ukrainian oligarch who faces bribery charges in the United States, according to attorneys for the businessmen and the oligarch.
Lev Parnas, one of the two associates of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, served as a translator for lawyers representing oligarch Dmytro Firtash. Parnas was arrested on Thursday (October 10) along with the other Florida businessman, Igor Fruman, on unrelated charges that included illegally funneling $325,000 to a political action committee supporting pro-Trump candidates.
Both men had worked in an unspecified capacity for Firtash before Parnas joined the Ukrainian's legal team, according to a person familiar with the Florida men's business dealings with Firtash.
The Floridians' connection to indicted oligarch Firtash injects an intriguing new character into the rapidly unfolding drama surrounding the effort to impeach Trump.
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives launched the impeachment inquiry, the first step in unseating a U.S. president, over allegations that Trump pressured the Ukrainian president to help investigate Biden, a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Giuliani was probing discredited allegations that Biden, when he was vice president, sought the firing of Ukraine's chief prosecutor to halt the investigation of a gas company on which his son, Hunter Biden, was a board member. The Bidens have denied the claims, and the Trump camp has produced no evidence to support the assertions.
Firtash, one of Ukraine's wealthiest businessmen, is battling extradition by U.S. authorities on bribery charges from Vienna, where he has lived for five years.
Parnas declined to comment on the specific work he performed for Firtash, referring questions to the oligarch's lawyers.
(Production: Kristin Neubauer) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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