By Albert Sebastian '22Two associates of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani pleaded “Not Guilty” to charges of campaign finance fraud on October 23, 2019. The two men, Ukrainian-born Lev Parnas and Belarusian-born Igor Fruman, were arraigned before federal judge J. Paul Oetken in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The case against Parnas and Fruman alleges a complex web of business ties and personal relationships that reaches the highest levels of federal government. Two other men, David Correia and Andrey Kukushkin, were also charged for their involvement in the campaign finance scheme and pleaded “Guilty” last week. Parnas and Fruman were arrested on October 9 at Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia. They were planning to depart that evening on a flight to Vienna, a trip for which they held one-way tickets. Giuliani, who has been employed by the two since 2018 as a consultant and lawyer, was scheduled to leave for Vienna the next day. Although Giuliani denied wrongdoing, he acknowledged his relationship with Parnas and Fruman.Beyond having a business and personal relationship with the President’s attorney, Parnas and Fruman became large financial donors to the Republican Party. Filings with the FEC reveal that the pair have donated a collective amount of $630,000 to GOP candidates and to the Republican National Committee since 2016. Creditors sued Parnas and Fruman due to unpaid debts prior to Trump’s election – it is unknown from where they raised the funds to make such large donations. The indictment alleges that these funds, which may have been foreign in origin, were used to curry political influence with candidates. Parnas and Fruman, who have started a number of businesses in the U.S. and Ukraine, are not directly linked with the unfolding scandal involving President Trump’s efforts to obtain damaging information from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. However, they are alleged to have connected Giuliani with Ukrainian officials who promised to dig up dirt on political rivals. In addition, the two lobbied for the removal of Marie Yovanovich, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, for being “insufficiently loyal” to the President. Parnas has also served as a translator for the lawyers of Dmytro Firtash, a Vienna-based oligarch who allegedly has ties to Russian mob boss Semion Mogilevich. Correia and Kukushkin are not accused of participating in Parnas and Fruman’s dealings in Ukraine. Interestingly, Edward MacMahon, a lawyer working for Parnas, suggested that some evidence in the case against him could be protected under executive privilege, a right normally reserved for confidential communications within the White House. MacMahon argues that executive privilege applies because Parnas and Giuliani had a working relationship while Giuliani was also employed by the President. As the 2020 presidential campaign heats up and the impeachment inquiry against Trump continues, this case adds to the litany of headaches he faces in the presidency. Sources:politico.com/news/2019/10/23/giuliani-not-guilty-campaign-finance-055794bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50159428usatoday.com/story/news/2019/10/23/giuliani-associates-parnas-fruman-court-campaign-finance-case/4065517002/nytimes.com/2019/10/10/us/politics/lev-parnas-igor-fruman-arrested-giuliani.html