NEW YORK--Two foreign-born Florida businessmen who helped U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, investigate political rival Joe Biden pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to illegally funneling money to a pro-Trump election committee and other politicians.
Ukraine-born Lev Parnas and Belarus-born Igor Fruman entered their not guilty pleas to federal campaign finance charges before U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan.
Federal prosecutors have accused Parnas and Fruman of using a shell company to donate $325,000 to the pro-Trump committee, America First Action, and raising money for former U.S. Representative Pete Sessions of Texas as part of an effort to have the Republican president remove the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
The arrest of Parnas and Fruman at a Washington-area airport earlier this month, as they prepared to fly out of the United States on one-way tickets, was yet another political hazard for Trump amid a fast-moving impeachment inquiry by the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives. Both Parnas and Fruman are free on bail.
The two men have been charged with conspiracy, making false statements to authorities and falsifying business records. Joseph Bondy, a lawyer for Parnas, told reporters outside the courthouse he looked forward to proceeding based on the evidence, not "a smear campaign that's been driven by self- serving and misleading leaks apparently from the highest levels of our government."
Parnas himself also denied the charges against him. "I will be vindicated," he said.
Prosecutors are examining Giuliani's interactions with the two men, according to a source familiar with the matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebekah Donaleski, one of the prosecutors in the case, said at Wednesday's hearing that an investigation was continuing.
Giuliani has said Parnas and Fruman helped his efforts in Ukraine to investigate Biden and Biden’s son Hunter. The younger Biden had served as a director of a Ukrainian energy company. Giuliani has denied wrongdoing.
