House Democrats subpoenaed two of Rudy Giuliani’s associates Thursday as part of an ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump after the pair was charged with campaign finance violations Wednesday evening.
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman worked with Trump’s personal lawyer during reported efforts to get Ukrainian officials to look into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, Giuliani previously said, according to NBC News.
Their alleged campaign finance violations are related to a pro-Trump super PAC, CNBC reported.
The leaders of three House committees ordered Parnas and Fruman to give documents and testify following the White House stating Tuesday that it won’t cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.
“Your clients are private citizens who are not employees of the Executive Branch,” the chairmen wrote in a letter to John Dowd, an attorney for Parnas and Fruman. “They may not evade requests from Congress for documents and information necessary to conduct our inquiry. They are required by law to comply with the enclosed subpoenas.”
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. September 20, 2019. (REUTERS/Aram Roston/File Photo)
The House of Representatives announced an official impeachment inquiry into Trump on Sept. 24 after an August whistleblower complaint stated Trump had pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating the Bidens. (RELATED: Schiff Knew Of Whistleblower Complaint Before It Was Filed)
“They are not exempted from this requirement merely because they happen to work with Mr. Giuliani, and they may not defy congressional subpoenas merely because President Trump has chosen the path of denial, defiance, and obstruction,” the letter continued, CNBC reported.
The move came after the White House blocked Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, from testifying Tuesday.
“Most of our work was completed in 2018, but there is a continuing obligation to advise with regard to follow-up questions,” Giuliani said according to a statement obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Contrary to leaks and misinformation, the source of the payments our firm received in 2018 were domestic.”
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