President Trump wouldn’t say Friday whether Rudolph W. Giuliani is still his personal lawyer, amid reports that federal prosecutors are investigating Mr. Giuliani’s business relationship with two associates indicted for campaign finance violations.
Asked by reporters if Mr. Giuliani is still his lawyer, the president replied, “Well, I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to Rudy. I spoke to him yesterday briefly. He’s a very good attorney, and he has been my attorney. Yeah, sure.”
Minutes later, Mr. Giuliani told several news outlets that he’s still representing the president.
Two Ukraine-born associates of Mr. Giuliani, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested late Wednesday at Dulles International Airport in Virginia as they tried to board an International flight with one-way tickets.
They were indicted on charges of conspiring to funnel money from a Russian donor to Republican campaigns in the U.S., including $325,000 last year to America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC.
Two other men, David Correia and Andrey Kukushkin, also face charges.
Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman had lunch with Mr. Giuliani at Trump International Hotel in Washington hours before their arrest.
ABC News reported Friday that federal authorities in New York are investigating the business relationship between Mr. Giuliani and the men charged, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Mr. Giuliani has not commented on the matter.
Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman introduced Mr. Giuliani to a Ukrainian prosecutor to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate, and his son Hunter, who held a lucrative post at a Ukrainian gas company.
Shortly after their indictments were announced by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, the Democratic House committee chairmen leading the impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump issued subpoenas for Mr. Parnas and Mr. Furman.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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