Report: Rudy Giuliani Eyed Deals in Ukraine While Seeking Biden Probe

Rudy Giuliani, the personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, eyed business deals in Ukraine as he sought inquires into allegations of corruption against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, according to a report released Wednesday.

The New York Times said Giuliani begin negotiations with Yuri Lutsenko, Ukraine’s leading prosecutor at the time, to take him and the European country’s Justice Ministry as clients earlier this year. According to the Times, Lutsenko was expected to compensate Giuliani and lawyers Joseph diGenova and Victoria Toensing $200,000 to “advise on Ukrainian claims for the recovery of sums of money in various financial institutions outside Ukraine.”

Further, the newspaper reported that Ukraine’s Justice Ministry and the Republic of Ukraine were supposed to pay Giuliani’s company $300,000. The deal was signed by the former New York City mayor, but not the Ukraine justice minister.

In March, the Justice Ministry reportedly appeared to have negotiated an agreement to use the services of diGenova and Toensing where the General Prosecutor’s office, headed up by Lutsenko, but would pay $300,000 to Giuliani’s firm.

Responding to allegations brought forth by the Times, Giuliani acknowledged that he weighed doing business with Ukraine’s government, but ultimately opted against the move. “I thought that would be too complicated,” he told the Times, before adding: “I never received a penny.” Ukraine’s Justice Ministry confirmed to the newspaper that it has never entered into any business agreements with the Trump lawyer.

The Times’ report comes as federal prosecutors are slated to meet with executives from Naftogaz — the Ukraine energy giant at the center of a federal investigation into Giuliani and two Soviet-born associates’ dealings.

A lawyer for Andrew Favorov confirmed Tuesday that he is scheduled to meet voluntarily with the U.S. Justice Department. Favorov is the director of the integrated gas division at Naftogaz, the state-owned gas provider in Ukraine.

Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating the business dealings of Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, including whether he failed to register as a foreign agent, according to people familiar with the probe. The people were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Giuliani’s close associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested last month at an airport outside Washington while trying to board a flight to Europe with one-way tickets. They were later indicted by federal prosecutors on charges of conspiracy, making false statements, and falsification of records.

Following an inquiry from The Associated Press, Favorov lawyer Lanny Breuer confirmed his client is set to meet with prosecutors.

“The Department of Justice has requested an interview,” Breuer said. “He has agreed and will voluntarily sit down with the government attorneys. At this time, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”

Breuer declined to say when or where Favorov, who has dual U.S.-Russian citizenship and lives in Ukraine, will be meeting with prosecutors.

Jim Margolin, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, declined to comment.

According to a federal indictment filed last month, Parnas and Fruman are alleged to have been key players in Giuliani’s efforts earlier this year to spur the Ukrainian government to launch an investigation of Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Report: Rudy Giuliani Eyed Business Deals in Ukraine While Seeking Biden Probe

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