CLC Complaint Results in Arrest of Two Ukrainian-American Trump Donors Connected to Giuliani

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WASHINGTON - Today, two Ukrainian-Americans who had been working with President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani on Ukrainian matters, were arrested for violating campaign finance laws. These arrests stemmed from a Campaign Legal Center (CLC) complaint.

In July 2018, CLC uncovered how these two men had laundered a six-figure contribution to President Trump’s super PAC through a shell corporation, and filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The DOJ indictment says Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas had pushed for the removal of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and that those efforts “were conducted, at least in part, at the request of one or more Ukrainian government officials.” Also, Fruman and Parnas introduced Giuliani to current and former Ukrainian prosecutors to discuss an investigation into Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Trevor Potter, president of CLC, and a former Republican Chairman of the FEC, released the following statement:

“Campaign Legal Center uncovered these secret donations and flagged them for the authorities last summer. We are pleased that federal law enforcement has conducted an investigation into these campaign finance crimes and made these two arrests. The public is now learning just how dangerous dark money can be in U.S. elections, including the potential for illegal foreign funds, which DOJ says were used here. The fact that these two individuals were working with Giuliani and Ukrainian government officials to alter U.S. policy in that country will obviously be relevant to the impeachment investigation.”

Brendan Fischer, director of federal reform at CLC, released the following statement:

“Trump’s push for Ukraine to investigate Biden was helped by two Soviet-born business partners who bought access with big political contributions illegally laundered through a shell corporation. As the indictment states, these contributions were made for the purpose of gaining influence with politicians to advance their own personal financial interests and the political interests of Ukrainian government officials, including at least one Ukrainian government official with whom they were working.”

Read more about CLC’s actions to hold President Trump accountable for legal violations involving Ukraine.

Join our call on Wednesday for a debrief from our experts, which will include a Q&A for members of the media.

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Campaign Finance
Ethics

Press Call (10/16): Yes, President Trump Broke the Law by Asking Foreign Governments for Favors

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ADVISORY – President Trump is facing an impeachment inquiry based on election law violations. Hear nonpartisan analysis from Campaign Legal Center (CLC)’s legal experts about the president’s abuse of power and campaign finance violations.

Join us for the call-in event, “Yes, President Trump Broke the Law by Asking Foreign Governments for Favors” on Wednesday October 16, 2019 from Noon - 1:00 pm ET

RSVP by October 15, 2019 to receive the call-in number in advance of the call.

Featured speakers for CLC:

  • Trevor Potter, President (a former Republican Chairman of the Federal Election Commission)
  • Adav Noti, Senior Director, Trial Litigation & Chief of Staff
  • Erin Chlopak, Director, Campaign Finance Strategy
  • Brendan Fischer, Director, Federal Reform
  • Delaney Marsco, Legal Counsel, Ethics

*A Q&A will follow speaker presentations, and a recording of the call will be emailed to you if you RSVP.

Issues
Campaign Finance
Ethics

Holding Trump Accountable for Legal Violations Involving Ukraine

At a Glance

On September 26, 2019, a whistleblower complaint was made public that alleges President Donald Trump used the power of his office to solicit interference from Ukraine in the 2020 U.S. election. Further reports have revealed other alleged illegal acts by employees or associates of the Executive Branch. Campaign Legal Center is calling out the Trump White House for multiple violations of campaign finance and ethics laws.

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Campaign Finance
Ethics
About This Case/Action

In the campaign finance world, a “contribution” is any “thing of value” given to affect an election, and federal law prohibits anybody from soliciting a contribution from a foreign national to an American political campaign. 

There is no doubt that a foreign government’s search for damaging information about a candidate’s political opponent would be valuable to that candidate. As Special Counsel Mueller noted, “[a] foreign entity that engaged in such research and provided resulting information to a campaign could exert a greater effect on an election, and a greater tendency to ingratiate the donor to the candidate, than a gift of money or tangible things of value.” 

The whistleblower’s account of the July 25, 2019 call between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has been corroborated by a summary of the call released by the White House. In particular, the call summary indicates that, with congressional aid for Ukraine on hold, Trump told Zelensky that U.S. support for his country has not always been “reciprocal,” and then asked Zelensky for a “favor”: to work with Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, as well as the U.S. Attorney General, to investigate Trump’s potential 2020 rival, Joe Biden.   

These facts not only reflect a startling abuse of executive power; they also unambiguously demonstrate that Trump broke the law by soliciting valuable assistance to his reelection efforts from a foreign government. 

Campaign Legal Center has been on this case since July 2018, when we first uncovered how two Ukrainian-Americans had laundered a six-figure contribution to President Trump’s super PAC through a shell corporation. CLC's complaint helped trigger a series of events that revealed how the pair had leveraged the access their contribution afforded to deepen a relationship with the president’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and to push the same theories about Ukraine and the Biden family that President Trump adopted in his call with Ukraine’s president.  

Giuliani’s involvement in official United States foreign affairs matters is additionally problematic. As Trump’s personal lawyer, he is not officially a federal employee. This means that, even as he insists to foreign actors that his work is not only officially sanctioned by the president but assisted by the State Department, he can sidestep legal ethics obligations that would require transparency of the foreign or domestic interests who are paying him.

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