Giuliani associates told Donald Trump last year that his Ukraine ambassador was working against him

Two associates of Rudy Giuliani in 2018 helped plant the seed with Donald Trump that then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was working against the president’s interests there.

During an intimate April 2018 dinner at Trump’s Washington D.C. hotel with big donors, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, Soviet-born business associates of Giuliani’s, turned the conversation to Ukraine, people familiar with the event told The Washington Post in a report published Tuesday night.

Parnas described to associates that he and Fruman told Trump at the dinner that they felt Yovanovitch was unfriendly to the president – and the Florida business executive said he reacted strongly to that news.

Parnas said that Trump immediately suggested that Yovanovitch be fired, according to people familiar with the matter.

Yovanovitch served in the Foreign Service for 32 years under both Democratic and Republican presidents, and in May 2019 was prematurely called back to the U.S. from her three-year assignment in Ukraine. 

Igor Fruman

Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas (left) detailed that he and his business partner Ignor Fruman (right) spoke with Donald Trump at a private dinner in 2018 about Ukraine and suggested his ambassador there was working against his interests

Parnas claimed Trump suggested during the April 2018 dinner that he would fire his then-Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch (pictured), and in May 2019, Trump prematurely recalled Yovanovitch from her three-year assignment in Ukraine

Parnas claimed Trump suggested during the April 2018 dinner that he would fire his then-Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch (pictured), and in May 2019, Trump prematurely recalled Yovanovitch from her three-year assignment in Ukraine

She testified to Congress on October 11 behind closed-doors to the three committees jointly leading the impeachment inquiry – the House Oversight and Reform, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees.

During her deposition, Yovanovitch confirmed that the president led a ‘concerted campaign’ against her to get her recalled from her post early.

The new revelations of the conversation and subsequent actions suggest that Parnas and Fruman had more personal interaction with Trump than previously admitted and potentially more influence over the president’s views on Ukraine.

Parnas and Fruman were arrested last month at a D.C.-area airport with a one-way ticket to Frankfurt, Germany. Trump, at the time, claimed he didn’t know the Giuliani associates.

When pictures of him with the men surfaced, he claimed he has pictures with a lot of people and that should not constitute if he has a close relationship with individuals

‘Now it’s possible I have a picture with them because I have a picture with everybody,’ Trump said the day after Parnas and Fruman were arrested at Dulles International Airport. ‘I don’t know what they do, but, I don’t know, maybe they were clients of Rudy.’

The intimate dinner in the executive suite, also attended by a New York developer and the grandson of a famous golfer, was intended for donors to Trump-allied super PAC America First to personally interact with Trump and his eldest son Donald Trump Jr.

The revelations suggest that the president had more interaction with Fruman (second from left) and Igor (center) than previously admitted. It could show the two Soviet-born businessmen have influence over Trump's Ukraine policy

The revelations suggest that the president had more interaction with Fruman (second from left) and Igor (center) than previously admitted. It could show the two Soviet-born businessmen have influence over Trump’s Ukraine policy

Parnas and Fruman gained access to the private event with promise of a major contribution for the super PAC.

The two were indicted for engaging in a complex scheme to violate campaign finance laws. The two pleaded not guilty.

Some time after the dinner, Parnas and Fruman teamed up with Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney, to look for damaging material about Democrats in Ukraine.

Giuliani took a personal interest in U.S.-Ukraine relations after Robert Mueller wrapped up his Russia investigation, several reports outline. The former Republican mayor of New York City has been accused of engaging in shadow diplomacy regarding Ukraine.

Parnas and Igor met with and aligned themselves with Giuliani in the summer of 2018.

The 2018 dinner wasn’t the only time Parnas and Fruman encountered the president. They also came across him during a Florida fundraiser in 2016 and during a Trump visit to his private estate at Mar-a-Lago.

The 2018 dinner at Trump Hotel in Washington D.C., however, is the first indication that Parnas and Fruman interacted directly with Trump about Ukraine.

Trump is now wrapped up in an impeachment inquiry stemming from his conversations with his Ukrainian counterpart and his foreign policy in Ukraine.

A whistle-blower filed a complaint in August, and went public with the allegations in late September, that the president engaged in a phone call on July 25 with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky which the individual alleged was improper.

Democrats, after learning of the nature of the call, accused Trump of setting a quid pro quo with his Ukrainian counterpart of millions in military aid in exchange for an investigation into his political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Giuliani, according to a former senior administration official, would regularly update Trump on what he was learning about Parnas and Fruman’s efforts in Ukraine.

‘It’s just not true that he had no idea who these guys were. He knew Lev particularly,’ the official told the Post.

The Democrat-led House inquiry is conducting its first public testimonies in the impeachment inquiry Wednesday with acting Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk