CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing the photos on a mobile device
An executive of Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas company confirmed to CNN that two associates of Rudy Giuliani boasted of their ties to Giuliani and U.S. government officials when they pitched a plan to change the company’s management and remove the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
Associated Press first reported news about multiple thwarted gas deals that allies of President Donald Trump worked to secure in the U.S. and Ukraine, involving Energy Secretary Rick Perry; a senior executive at Naftogaz; two Soviet-born Florida real estate entrepreneurs; and an oil magnate from Boca Raton, Florida, named Harry Sargeant III.
The group allegedly plotted to steer lucrative contracts to companies controlled by Trump allies at the same time that Giuliani was pushing Ukrainian officials this past spring to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, one of Donald Trump’s main political rivals. Part of the plan reportedly included Trump and Giuliani allies driving an attempt to change the senior management at Naftogaz.
Andrew Favorov, the director of an Integrated Gas Division at Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz, told CNN that Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, Giuliani’s associates, sought a private channel to promote their own business interests.
“I look to the United States to set the standard, to show how things can be done in a moral and ethical and transparent way. And I certainly hope that as a US citizen that this beacon does not lose its value because of some bad actors and because of some greed,” Favorov said.
Fruman and Parnas were indicted in October for campaign finance violations and pleaded not guilty. As part of their impeachment inquiry, House Democrats have subpoenaed Giuliani for documents and communications related to dozens of people, including those involved with the Ukrainian gas talks. Federal prosecutors in New York are also investigating Giuliani’s potential ties to Global Energy Producers, a company purportedly controlled by Parnas and Fruman, according to CNN.
Robert Costello, an attorney representing Giuliani, denied the former New York City mayor had any interest in GEP or stood to profit from GEP: “Mr. Giuliani had no interest in GEP at anytime.”
For more political cartoons, CLICK HERE
