Former Giuliani associate Igor Fruman pleads guilty in campaign finance case
heart of an impeachment investigation of the former president that began in fall 2019.
More:Two Giuliani associates involved in Trump-Ukraine controversy arrested on campaign finance charges
Fruman said during a plea hearing Wednesday before U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken that he and other associates saw an opportunity for a marijuana business in the United States. Fruman admitted soliciting campaign donations in excess of $25,000 from a potential investor who’s a foreign national, giving that person a list of Democratic and Republican politicians in states that were legalizing cannabis.
How Lev Parnas joined Team Trump and became Rudy Giuliani’s fixer in Ukraineadditional charges for allegedly defrauding potential investors to raise money for Fraud Guarantee, Parnas’ company. Correia pleaded guilty in the fraud case in October 2020.
A fourth defendant, Andrey Kukushkin, is also accused of campaign finance violations.
Contributing: Kevin Johnson, Bart Jansen and Kevin McCoy