President Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani said he was paid $500,000 for his work with a company co-founded by a Ukrainian-American businessman who was indicted last week on campaign finance charges.
The businessman, Lev Parnas, is said to be involved with Mr. Giuliani’s efforts to prod Ukraine into investigating 2020 Democratic presidential frontrunner Joseph R. Biden.
In an interview with Reuters, Mr. Giuliani said Fraud Guarantee, Mr. Parnas’s Boca Raton, Florida-based company, tapped Giuliani partners as a management and security firm around August 2018.
Mr. Giuliani said he was hired as a consultant and provide legal advice. He also said he received two payments within weeks of each other from Fraud Guarantee, but did not say when they were made.
Born in Ukraine, Mr. Parnas was one of two Giuliani associates who were arrested last week on charges they funneled foreign money to unidentified U.S. political to influence policy towards Ukraine.
Foreign nationals are prohibited from making campaign contributions and other donations related to a U.S. election.
Mr. Giuliani told Reuters he was confident he was not paid with foreign funds, although he declined to say if the money had been paid to him directly by Fraud Guarantee or another source.
“I know beyond any doubt the source of the money is not any questionable source,” he told Reuters. “The money did not come from foreigners. I can rule that out 100 percent.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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