A federal grand jury in Manhattan has reportedly subpoenaed Pete Sessions, a former Texas lawmaker referred to as “Congressman-1” in an indictment last week against two Rudy Giuliani associates.
The subpoena, which The Wall Street Journal first reported, seeks records related to Giuliani and his two associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who federal prosecutors indicted on campaign finance charges.
A spokesman for Sessions told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Sessions is “cooperating” with prosecutors “and will be providing documents to their office related to this matter over the next couple of weeks as requested.”
The Journal and New York Times have reported that prosecutors in New York are investigating Giuliani for his Ukraine-related work with Parnas and Fruman. One focus of the probe is whether the Trump lawyer acted illegally as an agent for Ukrainians, specifically in a campaign to remove Marie Yovanovitch as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. (RELATED: Giuliani Associates Arrested On Campaign Finance Charges)
The indictment unsealed on Oct. 10 alleges that Parnas and Fruman “conspired to circumvent the federal laws against foreign influence by engaging in a scheme to funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and State office so that the defendants could buy potential influence with candidates, campaigns, and the candidates’ government.”
U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has coffee with Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, U.S. Sept. 20, 2019. REUTERS/Aram Roston
Prosecutors also allege that Parnas met with Sessions on May 9, 2018 to seek his assistance “in causing the U.S. government to remove or recall the then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine.”
“PARNAS’s efforts to remove the Ambassador were conducted, at least in part, at the request of one or more Ukrainian government officials,” reads the indictment, which does not accuse Sessions of wrongdoing.
On the same day as his meeting with Parnas, Sessions sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleging that Yovanovitch had spoken negatively about President Donald Trump.
Parnas contributed $2,700 to Sessions’ campaign on June 25, 2018. He and Fruman also pledged to raise another $20,000 for the Republican, according to the indictment.
Sessions’ letter to Pompeo was cited in reports earlier this year that raised questions about Yovanovitch. The Trump administration recalled her from her post in May, several months before her term was scheduled to end.
Yovanovitch testified to Congress on Oct. 11 that she was the victim of a “concerted effort” involving Giuliani and a small group of former Ukrainian prosecutors who wanted her removed from office.
Sessions acknowledged last week that he and Parnas discussed Yovanovitch, but that he did not send the letter to Pompeo at Parnas’ behest.
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