Suspects arrested on campaign finance charges after having lunch with Giuliani

Two associates of President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani had lunch with Giuliani at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., hours before they were arrested, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a source who saw the group together.

The two Soviet-born businessmen, Led Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested Wednesday night at Washington Dulles International Airport on campaign finance violation charges. Federal authorities allege they violated the law to funnel money to numerous Republican committees, including a $325,000 contribution in May 2018 to a pro-Trump super PAC called America First Action.

Prosecutors say the two were attempting to leave the country with one-way international tickets when they were arrested.{mosads}

House committees subpoenaed the pair, who the committee chairmen say aided Giuliani’s efforts to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, on Thursday for documents related to their work with Ukrainian officials and political contributions in the U.S.

The two reportedly introduced Giuliani to several Ukrainian officials to discuss the dismissal of a prosecutor, which Trump has claimed without evidence was the result of Biden sabotaging an investigation into a company his son, Hunter, worked for.

Trump’s attempts to encourage Ukraine’s president to investigate Biden led the House to open a formal impeachment inquiry last month.