Tag: Rudy Giuliani

Giuliani Pressed for Turkish Prisoner Swap in Oval Office Meeting

New York Times logoDuring a contentious Oval Office meeting with President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in 2017, Rudolph W. Giuliani pressed for help in securing the release of a jailed client, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader, as part of a potential prisoner swap with Turkey.

The request by Mr. Giuliani provoked an immediate objection from Mr. Tillerson, who argued that it would be highly inappropriate to interfere in an open criminal case, according to two people briefed on the meeting.

The gold trader, Reza Zarrab, had been accused by federal prosecutors of playing a central role in an effort by a state-owned Turkish bank to funnel more than $10 billion worth of gold and cash to Iran, in defiance of United States sanctions designed to curb Iran’s nuclear program.

View the complete October 10 article by Jo Becker, Maggie Haberman and Eric Lipton on The New York Times website here.

Trump distances himself from indicted Giuliani associates

The Hill logoPresident Trump said Thursday that he doesn’t know the two associates of his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani who were arrested on campaign finance charges, but acknowledged he may have been photographed with them at some point.

“I don’t know those gentleman. Now, it’s possible I have a picture with them because I have a picture with everybody,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House.

“I don’t know them, I don’t know about them, I don’t know what they do,” Trump added. “I don’t know, maybe they were clients of Rudy’s. You’d have to ask Rudy.”

View the complete October 10 article by Brett Samuels and Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Law Professor offers sage advice to House Democrats: Arrest Rudy Giuliani

AlterNet logoFaced with an intransigent White House unwilling to cooperate with an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s pressuring of the Ukrainian government to investigate his political rival former Vice President Joe Biden, the House should take aggressive action including arresting Rudy Giuliani, a law professor argues in a column for The New York Times Thursday.

“The answer is unlikely to be found in a courtroom,” writes law professor Josh Chafetz.

The White House has repeatedly refused to answer subpoenas and on Tuesday afternoon, as Common Dreams reported, announced in an eight page letter that the administration will flatly refuse to cooperate in the inquiry, a move that could set up a constitutional crisis.

View the complete October 10 article by Eoin Higgins from Common Dreams on the AlterNet website here.

Former Rep. Pete Sessions met with indicted Giuliani associates, accepted donations

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were arrested on campaign finance violations

Former Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, who just last week announced a new bid for the House, appears to play a role in the indictment Thursday of two Soviet-born businessmen who are also subjects of the House impeachment inquiry.

While the indictment does not mention Sessions by name or charge him of any crime, he told a Texas radio show on Sunday that he met with them and Federal Election Commission documents show he accepted campaign donations from them last cycle.

The two associates of Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, were charged with violating campaign finance laws and arrested Wednesday, according to court documents.

View the complete October 10 article by Katherine Tully-McManus and Bridget Bowman on The Roll Call website here.

House committees subpoena Giuliani associates

The Hill logoHouse Democrats on Thursday issued subpoenas to two Florida businessmen who worked with President Trump‘s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, on his efforts to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.

The subpoenas to Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman for documents by Oct. 16 came hours after reports emerged that the two were arrested on campaign finance charges.

Parnas and Fruman are expected to appear in a Virginia court later Thursday.

View the complete October 10 article by Cristina Marcos on The Hill website here.

Super-PAC That Received Illegal Foreign Contributions from Indicted Giuliani Associates Spent Almost $5 Million to Benefit Minnesota Republicans

GOP-aligned Super-PAC allegedly received over $300,000 in foreign money for the purpose of buying influence in U.S. – Ukraine relations

DFL Demands MN GOP Return Money from Indicted Giuliani-Linked Associate

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Yesterday, two associates of Rudy Giuliani were arrested and charged with allegedly conspiring to funnel foreign money to Republican politicians and candidates for the purpose of buying influence in U.S. – Ukraine relations.

The two men arrested, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, allegedly funneled $325,000 into the Trump-aligned America First Super-PAC through a shell corporation. Among the Republicans who benefited most from America First’s illegal campaign cash were Minnesota Republican Congressmen Jim Hagedorn and Pete Stauber. Continue reading “Super-PAC That Received Illegal Foreign Contributions from Indicted Giuliani Associates Spent Almost $5 Million to Benefit Minnesota Republicans”

Trump Urged Top Aide to Help Giuliani Client Facing DOJ Charges

    • Secretary of State Rex Tillerson refused to interfere in case
    • 2017 episode bears hallmarks of Trump approach to Ukraine call

President Donald Trump pressed then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to help persuade the Justice Department to drop a criminal case against an Iranian-Turkish gold trader who was a client of Rudy Giuliani, according to three people familiar with the 2017 meeting in the Oval Office.

Tillerson refused, arguing it would constitute interference in an ongoing investigation of the trader, Reza Zarrab, according to the people. They said other participants in the Oval Office were shocked by the request.

Tillerson immediately repeated his objections to then-Chief of Staff John Kelly in a hallway conversation just outside the Oval Office, emphasizing that the request would be illegal. Neither episode has been previously reported, and all of the people spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the conversations.

View the complee October 9 article by Nick Wadhams, Saleha Mohsin, Stephanie Baker and Jennifer Jacobs on the Bloomberg News website here.

Giuliani predicts Senate Judiciary will call on Biden to testify on Ukraine

The Hill logoPresident Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said he believes Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will call former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden to testify before his panel about corruption in Ukraine.

Graham told reporters weeks ago that he had no intention of bringing the Bidens in, but Giuliani said he believed that position had changed amid an escalating Democratic impeachment effort.

“I think that changed. Go ask him now,” Giuliani told The Hill Wednesday when asked if Graham made a mistake by ruling out the possible appearance of Joe or Hunter Biden before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

View the complete October 9 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

A PAC Backed by Giuliani Henchmen Spent Millions for Member Who Targeted Ukraine Ambassador

Pro-Trump group America First appears to have pushed the legal limits with a seven-figure ad campaign on behalf of Pete Sessions.

A former member of Congress who pushed for political changes in Ukraine that aligned with Rudy Giuliani’s investigative efforts there got millions of dollars in political support from a pro-Trump super PAC financed in part by Giuliani allies.

The more than $3 million that the group, America First Action, spent supporting former Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) included huge ad buys that appear to have pushed the boundaries of laws restricting super PAC coordination with political campaigns, according to a Daily Beast review of federal campaign finance and television broadcasting records. And they could severely complicate the former congressman’s attempt to win back office in 2020.

The expenditures made by America First Action came during the 2018 election cycle, during which Sessions was fighting desperately to hold on to his House seat in a race he would go on to lose to Democrat Colin Allred. The PAC, which has President Donald Trump’s official imprimatur, has raised millions of dollars to fulfill that task. And during that election season, $325,000 of that came from a company called Global Energy Producers LLC, a firm run by Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.

View the complete October 8 article by Lachlan Markay on the Daily Beast website here.

Energy Chief Perry Pressured Ukraine Gas Company To Favor Trump Don

As Rudy Giuliani was pushing Ukrainian officials last spring to investigate one of Donald Trump’s main political rivals, a group of individuals with ties to the president and his personal lawyer were also active in the former Soviet republic.

This circle of businessmen and Republican donors touted connections to Giuliani and Trump while trying to install new management at the top of Ukraine’s massive state gas company. Their plan was to then steer lucrative contracts to companies controlled by Trump allies, according to two people with knowledge of their plans.

Their plan hit a snag after then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko lost his reelection bid to Volodymyr Zelensky, whose conversation with Trump about former Vice President Joe Biden is now at the center of the House impeachment inquiry of Trump.

View the complete October 7 article from the Associated Press on the National Memo website here.