Igor Fruman at a federal court in New York City in October 2019. Photo: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
A former associate of Rudy Giuliani pleaded guilty to soliciting campaign contributions from a foreign national on Friday, almost two years after being charged with campaign finance violations, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: Igor Fruman's plea may put pressure on Giuliani, who is the subject of an ongoing federal criminal investigation into his dealing in Ukraine, which Furman assisted with.
Fruman and Lev Parnas, two foreign-born Trump donors, helped Giuliani investigate then-former Vice President Joe Biden and his son before the 2020 election by introducing the former New York City mayor to Ukrainian officials promoting unsubstantiated corruption accusations against the Bidens.
- They were both charged with multiple crimes and arrested in October 2019, and Fruman previously pleaded not guilty to all charges.
- The guilty plea Friday related to soliciting campaign contributions from a foreign national as part of a bid to get recreational marijuana business licenses for a cannabis venture that ultimately failed, according to CNBC.
- As part of his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the other charges. He did not agree to cooperate with any other ongoing investigations.
The big picture: Giuliani, Donald Trump's former lawyer, is specifically being investigated by by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to determine if he broke lobbying laws in his dealings in Ukraine.
- He has not been charged with a crime and has said that he did nothing wrong while investigating claims against the Bidens in Ukraine.
Go deeper: Court rules Rudy Giuliani cannot practice law in D.C.