In an op-ed published in The Washington Post, Campaign Legal Center’s Trevor Potter and Delaney Marsco explain why the lack of transparency surrounding Rudy Giuliani’s income is a problem, and why the financial disclosure ordinarily required for individuals representing the U.S. government is so important.
“Giuliani has confirmed that he was paid $500,000 in 2018 by a business called Fraud Guarantee — founded by Lev Parnas and set up by David Correia, both of whom were recently indicted on charges related to alleged violations of federal campaign finance laws.”
“The more we learn about Giuliani’s relationship to all his clients, the harder it is to tell whose interests Giuliani was representing in his influence efforts,” they said. “Giuliani has insisted that he ‘knows exactly where the money came from,’ but the American public doesn’t.”
Potter and Marsco explain: “Despite claiming to represent the president on official matters, [Giuliani] has refused to file a State Department financial disclosure report. The source of Giuliani’s paycheck is important, because the money he was receiving from his paying clients, including Parnas and [Igor] Fruman, effectively subsidized his gratis work for Trump.”
The stunning arrest of Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas on criminal campaign finance charges arose directly from CLC’s complaint to the Federal Election Commission. In July 2018, CLC uncovered how the Soviet-born Parnas and Fruman laundered six-figure contributions to President Trump’s super PAC through a shell corporation.
CLC’s complaint with the FEC helped trigger a series of revelations showing how the pair leveraged the access their contribution had afforded to deepen their connections with figures close to the president.
Learn more about CLC’s work to Hold Trump Accountable for Legal Violations Involving Ukraine.
This post was written by Sheely Edwards, a 2019 CLC Hinckley intern, and student at the University of Utah.
