names igor fruman and lev parnas.ashington airport with what prosecutors say were one-way tickets out of the country. one of the men described as giuliani's fixer and someone who helped introduce him to various officials in his bid to dig up dirt on joe biden. and listen to this. hours before the two arrests these two men had lunch with rudy giuliani in washington at the trump hotel. that is according to the "wall street journal." moments ago the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york detailed charges against these two men and their intended target, former u.s. ambassador to ukraine marie yovanovitch. >> as alleged in the indictment the defendants broke a law to gain political influence why avoiding disclosure of who was actually making the donations and where the money was

here is as photo of the president fruman and rudy giuliani and parnas. thanks for joining us on this. very much appreciated. we are getting testimony today from yovanovitch. we have read her opening statement. i would like to get your take on what she has said so far from what you are hearing of her testimony. >> she said she was forced out of office in part based on the activities of people like fruman and parnas. they were not named in the testimony although. we know that fruman and parnas laundered these contributions to trump's super pac in order to buy access. almost from day one after making these political contributions, they were setting up meetings in order to push for the removal of ambassador yovanovitch. >> what about the fact that in this opening statement that she learns and tell in testimony that the president was trying to get her removed from the summer of 2018. >> we know right around the time of the original six-figure launder political contribution to president trump's super pac. fruman and parnas set up a me meeting, they used that m

later -- >> firtash was backing parnas and fruman?e was paying them money, paying their expenses as they were partly running this weird ukraine shadow policy? >> recently. but i don't want to imply that this is going back all the way back into 2018 and so forth. this was in 2019. >> okay. >> and later, of course, as we reported and others did, parnas introduced firtash and set him up with victoria and joe as his new legal counsel in d.c. and they were -- you know, he's got a lawyer in chicago to handle, you know, high-filing motions and briefs in court. they were doing more of the political side of his legal defense on the extradition matters. trying to prevent them from getting extradited. >> right. so parnas steers the representation from luaanny dav to these right-wing media stars. after taking the case, they secured a rare face-to-face meeting with attorney general william barr and other justice department officials to argue against the charges. that seems like very successful representational choice by mr. firtash. >> it really d

parnas and fruman used giuliani's name to hustle business.w the two men swindled his client out of $100,000. >> if someone tells you they're dealing with the president of the united states' attorney and he's also your attorney and you have very, very good relationship with him, most people would believe that you must be a credible person. >> reporter: stock says his client, a wealthy south florida businessman, loaned parnas and fruman the money last year. according to this lawsuit, the two men boasted about their close relationships to giuliani and other republican power players, who they said would help parnas and fruman in their new business -- global energy producers, a gas export company that the two claimed would be the largest exporter of liquid natural gas in the u.s. stock says the two men suddenly paid back the loan just days after news broke about giuliani pressuring ukraine to investigate joe biden. >> we went through these guys' personal histories, and they seemed to have a series of business failures and personal failures, and th

igor fruman and lev parnas will be in court soon. prosecutors say they made hundreds of thousands of donations to illegal political groups including one donald trump super pac. seeking to, quote, advance their financial interests and the political interests of at least one ukrainian government official. today, house democrats subpoenaed both men for documents, the two were expected today or tomorrow until they were arrested last night at dulles as they were trying to flee the country. >>> and another goal to get hid of former ukrainian ambassador marie yovanovitch, she is expectexpect expected to testify tomorrow. meanwhile, 16 conservatives have written a letter calling for the expeditious impeachment of president. many who were in previous administration, led by george conway. husband of trump adviser kellyanne conway. we're going is is tsndy -- >> the ukraine an official who sought the dismissal of the u.s. ambassador of ukraine. with respect to the last allegation, let me take you through some of the money flow. parnas and fruman

download the xfi app today. >>> today in the latest adventures of lev parnas and igor fruman.oviet born business associates who were indicted just a couple of weeks ago. the two pleaded not guilty in a manhattan federal court. they've been charged with violating campaign finance law and conspiring to use foreign money to pi political influence in violation of law. and i think it's fair to say reports indicate they are somewhat sketchy dudes. they have pin working closely with rudy giuliani, traveling all over the world with him, trying to get the ukrainian government to basically manufacture dirt on the president's political rival, the subject of the impeachment inquiry. in fact, they were working so much of rudy giuliani, that their lawyer even made the case they couldn't come testify before congress and i quote here parnas and fruman assisted mr. giuliani in connection with his representation of president trump. the part of trump's legal team. today parnas said his association with giuliani was so close, get his, the white house might invoke executive privilege. parnas and f

they say parnas and fruman were being bankrolled by an unknown foreign national.y promise him they could get the dirt on biden? did he lose sense of good guys and bad guys for that political purpose? then there's the first part of rudy's disclaimer quote. keep in mind the trip to madrid, the one the whistle-blower described as a direct follow-up to the july 25th call, that's where giuliani met with representatives of the ukrainian president, of ukraine's president, he said that trip was paid by clients other than president trump. who? because if other clients include like a city in ukraine, did it dovetail to anything he was doing in the united states because that could be fara, the foreign agent registration act. that becomes relevant. but in giuliani's own words, i never registered to lobby. so if he was doing that kind of work that can pass the test, he's got a problem, unless he gets the exemption that it was only legal work in an ongoing case. did it check that box? important to know. giuliani, however, says he was only serving one client, donald trump. and i

and parnas and fruman are like the holikman and ehrlichman of this administration. it's a very ugly thing to say. understand we had the official u.s. foreign policy that officials were trying to execute and then you had this shadow effort by rudy giuliani with the support of other actors like ambassador sondland and donald trump. and they were undermining the official u.s. foreign policy in pursuit of totally illicit objectives. >> why is it shadow? if the president is saying in one way or another explicitly or implicitly, you do what rudy says, there's nothing shadow about it. he has his text messages, he's walking into the oval office with rex tillerson, asking for prisoner swaps. it was all done in plain daylight. >> except rudy giuliani was never a public employee. he was acting as the president's private lawyer and he was perhaps acting as an independent businessman seeking certain kinds of business deals, but you're absolutely right, he appeared to speak with the authority of a delegation from the president of the united states. and that will be one of the fas

igor fruman and lev parnas, pleading not guilty to federal campaign finance charges.isingly an torn for parnas claimed he might claim executive privileges because the lawyer said giuliani was his parnas's attorney and working for president trump during the time in question. the claim could link president trump to the government charges. it's clear fruman and parnas has been in giuliani ace orbit some time but the request he is who are they. >> cnn vchgt correspondent drew griffin looked into it. >> all you need to know about rudy giuliani's now indicted clients is that a long list of people who did business with lev parnas or igor frum fibrin a home rental, a property lease, money leans, even basketball tickets have sued them. >> there is a saying in russia, don't go in the forest if you're afraid of wolves. niece guys weren't just wolves they are radioactive wolves. >> according to prosecutors parnas and fruman were dropping hundreds of thousands to republican campaigns and dropping something else, rudy giuliani's name, the two men used political connections, photos

these two close associates of rudy giuliani, lev parnas a and igor fruman were arrested at dulles airport. they are set to appear in court at 2:00 this afternoon. this is an indictment from the southern district of new york, but they'll appear here first before facing those charges in new york. the indictment alleging conspiracy and also illegal campaign contributions. it says that these two men helped funnel foreign money into u.s. elections here, and the two men did give hundreds of thousands of dollars to a trump-aligned superpac. according to the indictment, it says this, that these contributions were made for the purpose of gaining influence with politicians so as to advance their own personal financial interests, and the political interests of ukranian government officials, including at least one ukranian government official with whom they were working. now, what's key about these two men in the broader scope of the ukranian impeachment inquiry are their ties with rudy giuliani, the fact they worked with giuliani to help him dig up dirt in ukraine on joe biden, the fact they introdu

at or around the same time, parnas and fruman committed to raising those funds for congressman and saw congressman 1 assistance in causing the u.s. government to remove or recall the then u.s. ambassador to ukraine. parnas' efforts to remove the ambassador were conducted at least in part at the request of one or more ukrainian government officials. moreover, in an effort to reach their contribution commitment to congressman one and further their political goals in or about june 2018 after fruman made the maximum $2700 contribution to congressman one, fruman paid for another minimum 2700 contribution to congressman one that was made and reported in parnas' name. what we're talking about here is that these people were donating directly and illegally to a then sitting u.s. congress person, not clear if that person is in congress, not identified in the court papers, to remove or recall the ukrainian ambassador, something that as you know quite well, actually did occur. >> right? >> in addition, they describe how money came from a foreign national through these men as part of their conspira

parnas and fruman used giuliani's name to hustle business.da attorney bob stock says it's how the two men swindled his client out of a $100,000. >> if someone tells you they're the united states' attorney and he's also your attorney and you have very, very good relationship with -- with him, most people would believe that you must be a credible person. >> stock says his client, a wealthy, south florida businessman loaned parnas and fruman the money last year. according to this lawsuit, the two men boasted about their close relationships to giuliani and other republican power players who they said would help parnas and fruman in their new business, global energy producers, a gas export company that the two claimed would be the largest exporter of liquid natural gas in the u.s. stock said the two men suddenly paid back the loan just days after news broke about giuliani pressuring ukraine to investigate joe biden. >> we went through these guys' personal histories and they seemed to have a series of business failures and personal failures and the

on october 9th, fruman and parnas were arrested at the airport. they had one way ticket europe and headed to vienna, to facilitate with victor shulkin and fox news, sean hannity. the interview never happened. fox refused to confirm it was ever scheduled. fruman and parnas pleaded not guilty in court to charges of the indictment. the truth will vindicate him. >> i look forward to defending myself vigorously in court. >> fruman and parnas were dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign donations to republican campaigns. they were dropping something else, too, rudy giuliani. the two men bought their way into fundraisers, political events and used photos of themselves with rudy giuliani of hugging desantis and attending president george bush's funeral with rudy giuliani and all those photos with donald trump and his family as currency in their scheme. >> in parts of the world like russian and ukraine, if you have public like that and you show it to the people, these are trump's connection. >> reporter: parnas and fruman used rudy giuliani's

leave parnas and igor fruman. it outlines two instances where the two men were involved in a conspiracy, either falsifying documents or making false statements to the fec. when you file and donate, you have to say where the money is coming from and say it's only coming from me. in other words, craig, you can't give me money to donate in my name so you can get around campaign finance laws. that's the key thing that happened here. in addition to that, nbc news has confirmed my colleague and myself, according to multiple people familiar with the matter, what's identified in this representative is pete sessions a republican from dallas, according to this indictment he received several donations from these two men and they were trying to essentially lobby him to get rid of the then u.s. ambassador to ukraine at the behest of one or more government officials, according to the allegations contained in this indictment. so several different things that are going on here. but again, we have the ukrainian ambassador back in

at his involvement, his relationship, financial dealings with these two men, lev parnas and igor fruman. where is the money coming from? the indictment lays out a lot that the sources of the money were foreigners, including russia national, according to the indictment. the question i think the investigators are still trying to nail down is, is that it? is there more money? what are the business interests here that are at work and how does this tie to some of the political work being done here? joe biden and ukraine, he said he had sources there. these two men were very much key in that part of this. you can bet that's one of the things that investigators are looking at. >> i suspect we're only beginning to scratch the surface right now on what investigators are looking at right now. everybody, stand by. i want to go to capitol hill right now. important developments on the impeachment probe. our congressional correspondent sunlen serfaty is joining us right now. why do they want documents from the energy secretary, rick perry? >> now they are issuing a formal subpoena for documents to be

. >> parnas and fruman were arrested around 6:00 p.m.ast night at dulles airport as they were about to board an international flight with one- way tickets. >> reporter: earlier in the day they had lunch with president trump's personal attorney, rudy giuliani, at the trump hotel in washington. the men are both naturalized u.s. citizens. one originally from ukraine, the other originally from belarus. prosecutors charged them with illegally funneling foreign donations to political campaigns, including $325,000 to a pro-trump super-pac in a scheme to buy potential influence. the pair is seen in pictures with president trump, donald trump jr., and the president's personal attorney, rudy giuliani, who tweeted earlier this year, "lev parnas and igor fruman are my clients." >> i don't know those gentleman. now, it's possible i have a picture with them because i have a picture with everybody. >> reporter: the men were also subpoenaed by house democrats, as part of their impeachment inquiry to president trump. the original whistleblower complaint

what conversations have you had with lev parnas and igor fruman? >> i don't know those gentlemen. it's possible i have a picture with them. because i have a picture with everybody. i have a picture with everybody here, but somebody said there may be a picture or something at a fund-raiser or somewhere. >> reporter: giuliani, the president's personal attorney, telling nbc news he can't comment yet but told "the new york times" last month, i referred the men to a campaign finance expert who pretty much resolved it. house democrats have subpoenaed parnas and fruman as part of their impeachment inquiry with the former national security adviser making clear where he >> dyou think it's appropriate for the president of the united states to solicit foreign interference in our political process? >> no. >> thank you. >> of course, no no, absolutely not. >> reporter: energy secretary rick perry today was also subpoenaed by house democrats, looking for documents about his interactions with ukraine. that brings the total to nine subpoenas against the trump administration during this impeachmen

country. >> parnas and fruman with were arrested around 6:00 p.m. at dulles airport as they were about to board an international flight with one-way tickets. >> reporter: earlier in the day they had lunch with president trump's personal attorney rudy giuliani at the trump hotel in washington, according to "the wall streetjournal." the men are both naturalized u.s. citizens, one originally from ukraine, the other originally from belarus. prosecutors charged them with illegally funneling foreign donations to political campaigns, including $325,000 to a pro-trump superpac in a scheme to buy potential influence. the pair is seen in pictures with president trump, donald trump jr., and the president's personal attorney rudy giuliani, who tweeted earlier this year lev parnas and igor fruman are my clients. >> i don't know those gentlemen. now it's possible i have a picture with them because i have a picture with everybody. >> reporter: the men were also subpoenaed today by house democrats as part of their impeachment inquiry into president trump. the origi

asked if rudy giuliani had business dealings with leave parnas or igor fruman.s and fruman are the two giuliani associates arrested last week on conspiracy charges related to an alleged scheme to pump foreign money into republican campaigns and superpacs. but this investigation is apparently not just about campaign finance. "mccallion said he was asked a lot of questions by fbi and other counterintelligence investigators who were looking at rudy giuliani's comings and goings in ukraine and business dealings." that first report was in "usa today," confirmed and added to by cnn. federal investigation of rudy giuliani includes counterintelligence probe. lawyer kenneth mccallion telling cnn, "i was just asked if i or any of my clients knew of any dealings that these two guys had with giuliani. they were on the radar with regard to possible counterintelligence issues." any view inside the reported investigation of the president's lawyer is obviously going to be fascinating at this point. but when the view seems to indicate not just a criminal investigation, but a cou

the white house has tried to play down any contact mr trump had with igor fruman and lev parnas, butrsonal lawyer, rudy giuliani, and they helped mr giuliani in his attempts to investigate mr trump's potential presidential rivaljoe biden and his son hunter, who had business dealings in ukraine. i don't know those gentlemen. it's possible i have a picture with them because i have a picture with everybody, i have a picture with everybody here, but somebody said there might be a picture at a fundraiser or somewhere but i have pictures with everybody. in their first appearance in court, mr parnas and mr fruman were each ordered to post $1 million in bail in order to be released. they are from ukraine and belarus respectively, and democrats will be watching this case closely as they continue to investigate mr trump's actions as part of their impeachment inquiries. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. let's bring you up to date with events in manchester, where the until shopping centre was evacuated. five people have been stabbed, according to emergency services. —— the arndale shopping ce

the two men, igor fruman and lev parnas, are being held in virginia on $1 million bond each. they'll ultimately face charges in new york. >> jessica schneider, thank you so much. >>> the other breaking story we're following, energy secretary rick perry subpoenaed by house democrats as part of their impeachment inquiry. our congressional correspondent manu raju is joining us. >> reporter: this is the latest in an escalating impeachment probe that has already sent subpoenas to rudy giuliani, rudy giuliani's associates, the white house, the office of management and budget, the pentagon, and now rick perry getting hit with a subpoena after questions were raised about conversations that he had with the ukrainian president zelensky and conversations he had with president trump, including president trump reportedly, according to cnn's reporting, urging rick perry to talk to rudy giuliani in his discussions with ukraine. now, rick perry has said that all along his conversations with the president zelensky of ukraine were simply about energy. he said he did not talk about the bidens a

igor fruman and lev parnas touted their connection to giuliani. vickie, let me start with you. have a great story on cnn.com about these guys that raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars, jetted around the world, touting their connections to giuliani and trump. tell us about this ukrainian billionaire. >> yes. ukrainians place great stock in the culture of connections. and parnas and fruman came to him and promised him that they could broker a meeting with the new president of ukraine, zelensky and, wait for it, energy secretary rick perry and vice president mike pence. amazing, right? they also dropped rudy giuliani's name. and they wanted to be paid a big fee for this. >> and the meeting ultimately did happen but we're not clear that parnas and fruman had anything to do with it. >> they said no, they absolutely did not have anything to do with it. but it didn't stop them trying to network and use their connections. the day jake, they were en route to vienna. as they say in the piece, to actually broker an appearance by viktor shemkin, former ukrainian prosecutor, to go on s

>> what conversations have you head with lev parnas and igor fruman?> i don't know those gentlemen. >> you were in pictures with them. >> and hillary clinton's campaign manager john podesta what he makes the push to impeach trump.

fruman.us what you saw. >> well, i think one of the things and you know i talked about it earlier today, where is rudy giuliani getting the money from? what is funding all of these efforts? how did parnas and fruman, how have they made money? and what's going on here. because you remember we talked about this on air before. rudy giuliani has said that parnas was a client of his. yesterday, parnas's attorney says, no, no, no. giuliani -- parnas works for giuliani. so now, we've got a conflict there. but -- but to your question and to the heart of this, federal prosecutors detail all the discovery that they have to share. basically, everything they've gotten so far that they have to share with parnas, fruman, and the two other people that are charged with this. what we've heard from them now is that they have returns, grand jury has subpoenaed returns for more than 50 bank accounts. so that means they have details on more than 50 bank accounts that they've been able to gather so far in this inv

parnas and fruman pled not guilty for funneling money to u.s. campaigns.tures are shedding light on how giuliani may have been able to use the men to dig up dirt on biden and biden's son hunter from the ukraine. all of this filed by a report by cnn's andrew kosinski. what does this trip to london tell us about this relationship between giuliani and these associates? >> so, it's really interesting because the trip sort of brings together a lot of these different elements of their relationship. it shows how close they are. it looks like they had a great time at the yankees game. they're on the field. they got to meet aaron boone, manager of the yankees and there was part of the group where he spoke to the charity group connected to fruman and parnas and this ukrainian rabbi, and we can see how the pair between them, parnas, fruman and giuliani, he was able through them meet all sorts of other additional ukrainians connected to the government, connected to people in the government and things like that, and this is all going on around the time he's looking to

in in addition, parnas and fruman made contributions to congressman one. they directed and promised over $20,000. moreover, committee one spends approximately $3 million to benefit congressman 1. now as a result, parnas and fruman had several meetings with congressman 1, and at these meetings, parnas on behalf of the ukrainian officials, lobbied congressman 1 to negotiate for the removal of that then the u.s. ambassador to ukraine. protecting the integrity of our elections, and protecting our elections from unlawful foreign influence are functions of our campaign finance laws. and as this office has made clear, we will not hesitate to investigate those in criminal conduct drawn to question the integrity of the political process. and i want to add that this investigation is continuing. and i want to acknowledge and thank our wonderful ausa who worked on prosecuting and investigating this case and will continue to investigate this case. to my right is rebecca, and someone who would ordinarily be to her right, nick rose could not be here today, because he is

that same month parnas posted photos of facebook of himself and fruman with president trump. and with the president's eldest son donald trump jr., trump yesterday denied knowing the two giuliani associates. >> what conversations have you had with lev parnas and igor fruman? >> i don't know those gentlemen. >> you're in pictures with them. >> it is possible i have a picture with them, because i have a picture with everybody. i have a picture with everybody here. but somebody said there may be a picture or something, at a fundraiser, or somewhere, so, but i have pictures with everybody. >> have you talked to them? >> i don't know if there is anybody i don't have pictures with. >> i don't know them. i don't know about them. i don't know what they do. but i don't know. maybe they were clients of rudy. you would have to ask rudy. >> but my son had a meal with them as well. just fyi. the president's outside counsel jay sekulow told nbc news, as the indictment state, neither the president or the campaign were aware. >> danny sevz is with us. and when asked if rudy giuliani could be

fruman have acted as emissaries for mr. giuliani as he has sought to uncover information. federal prosecutors spoke out this afternoon about the investigation and left the distinct impression that it could be sprawling and ongoing. >> these allegations are not about some technicality, a civil violation or an error on a form. this investigation is about corrupt behavior. deliberate law-breaking. the fbi takes the obligation to tackle corruption seriously. >> we will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those who engage in criminal conduct that draws into question the integrity of our political process. and i want to add that this investigation is continuing. >> on the intersection with the impeachment inquiry both men were scheduled to testify in the house impeachment investigation and have now been subpoenaed. today's indictment also connects the associates of rudy giuliani to efforts to remove the u.s. ambassador to ukraine, marie yovanovitch, an effort that according to the indictment, was, quote, at the request of one or more ukrainian government officials. of cour

there were millions of dollars flowing into parnas/followthrouparnas/fruman accounts. money come from? what were the sources? that is really the follow the money investigation is what i believe the southern district and the fbi is looking at at this point. >> mr. mccallion, please may i list your efforts in helping us understand this as we learn more information about how it fits into the legal framework necessary for investigators. >> well, absolutely, and i appreciate the opportunity. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> to be continued. >>> all right, so tonight the president is hailing turkey -- i know this is another aspect of the situation. he's saying, yay, i got a ceasefire. turkey says it's not a ceasefire at all what's going on in syria. is the president just doing what he does best which is ignore reality in the interest of himself by declaring victory? what is actually happening in syria? what needs to happen in syria? one of his chief defenders takes on the case next. good to see you. ah! come on! let's hide in the attic. no. in the basement.

fruman? >> i don't know those gentlemen. >> you were in pictures with them. >> and hillary clinton's campaign manager john podesta what he makes the push to impeach trump. and as republicans stews over defecks the new call from conservative lawyers who say a speedy impeachment inquiry is necessary. when "all in" starts right now. good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes. the first arrests of the impeachment era happened today and washington, d.c. airport attempting to leave the country with one way tickets get this only hours after they lunched with their business associate and lawyer rudy giuliani. let me take a minute to explain these two suspects who probably are not that familiar with you. they've been floating around the coverage of the ukraine scandal. they've been close to rudy giuliani from the beginning. they're american citizens, naturalized. they're described in the federal indictment and reporting as businessmen, although to be honest their current business is sort of unclear. they've been working hand in hand

so what might prosecutors want to know from this steven fruman?well, brooke, it seems like prosecutors are advancing the investigation. this subpoena came to steven fruman two weeks after his brother was arrested on the campaign finance charges and prosecutors up here appear to be following the money. they're examining more than 50 bank accounts, tracing the money there. and the relationship between igor and steven, they are not just brothers but are in business together. there are addresses they've used in common, it looks like they may have invested in property together. so all of this as prosecutors trying to understand more about the money flows and the relationships. we've also learned that prosecutors have searched multiple premises as part of the investigation. and in one case they even had to blast off the door of the safe and they're now scrutinizing those documents, records, whatever materials were inside of the safe. as this investigation is progressing, it only broken out in public since the last two weeks since the arrest of igor frum

. >>> this just in to cnn, federal prosecutors have subpoenaed the brother of igor fruman.ne of the recent indictments of the associate to rudy giuliani pleading guilty that he and another man funnelled funds into the organization. what do we know? >> what we are learning is federal prosecutors in new york who are conducting this investigation, they have suspected igor's brother steve fruman. we learned that steve fruman is actual the one of the co-signers. so they've subpoenaed him. they have a number of business relationships together. it's not entirely clear what they're trying to get with the subpoena of fruman, but they have some dealings, including on these campaign contributions. what we've also learned is they've executed numerous search warrants on the premises, including blasting a door off a safe which they had then gotten access to those contents. they also subpoenaed more than a dozen telephone records relating to more than a dozen phone numbers, and they have also had subpoenas sent and they're culling through results from these subpoenas that result to 50 ban

relations with ukraine. >> parnas and fruman were arrested around 6:00 p.m. last night at dulles airport as they were about to board an international flight with one-way tickets. we will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those who engage in criminal conduct that draws into question the integrity of our political process. and i want to add that this investigation is continuing. >> "wall street journal" reports it this way. the two had lunch with mr. giuliani at the trump international hotel in washington on wednesday. prosecutors say they allegedly made illegal contributions to a pro-trump political action committee and stand accused of funneling illegal foreign donations from a russian national to other political candidates. trump was asked about the two men as he was leaving the white house for the twin cities. >> lev parnas and igor fruman? >> i don't know those question. it's possible i have a picture with them because i have a picture with everybody. i don't know them. i don't know about them. i don't know what they do. but i don't know. maybe the

you're looking at on the right, two of the people now, lev parnas and igor fruman. and basically, chuck, when you look at this case, you're seeing what we kind of typically see in these straw donation or foreign donation cases. you're looking at somebody who was trying to move money in from abroad. somebody who was -- people that were trying to get money into this country and have it influence elections, or people that were trying to donate more than you're allowed to give and putting in fake names. he even misspelled "fruman," one time, initially misspelled his name in one of his filings to try to deceive the fec. so it's kind of a standard case. what is not standard is one of the acts that's alleged here is that money went to a then sitting congressman, somebody that nbc news and people we've spoken with have identified as former congressman pete sessions, that pete sessions was given money and he was asked to lobby for the removal of the ukrainian ambassador, something that's the heart of the whistle-blower allegation, something you've been covering for the last

we expect igor fruman to be there. will of the players that's involved and what's next in the legal case. all this stems from the ongoing and continuing investigation into this foreign money influence scheme, which is definitely picking up steam. it's an investigation that's been going on for some time. and it's an investigation that we continue to report developments on. >> tom, can you give us a little bit more about how correa links up with fruman and parnas? >> basically, he's involved every step of the way. this is one of the things that tells us here there is a lot about this case that prosecutors and federal investigators know that we don't. typically, when we get an indictment out of the southern district of new york. it's lengthy. it details the specific payments who did what when. we don't necessarily have it in this case. all we know is that according to charging documents, kour rhea, fruman parnas and another person involved in this skrooem scheme, they usually lump them altogether and say they're the ones

parnas and fruman were arrested around 6:00 p.m. last night at dulles airport as they were about to board an international flight with one-way tickets. >> the movie writes itself. they're ready to leave washington from dulles airport with one-way first-class plane tickets in their hands to frank frankfurt, germany. perhaps knowingly fleeing the country, perhaps not. they're watching the minutes tick down. according to one eyewitness in "the new york times" they're drinking and eating the free food and in the first-class lounge, when the first-class passengers are invited to board the plane before everyone else, they make their way toward the plane when suddenly two plain-clothes officers suddenly stopped them, one of them says we need to see your passports. if the fbi had decided to arrest them a little earlier that day at lunch in washington at the trump hotel, rudy giuliani would have been sitting right beside them. >> as alleged in the indictment, the defendants broke the law to gain political influence while avoiding disclosure

maybe they were clients of rudyreer: lev as and igor fruman helped arrange meetings between giuliani ukra igat ing ninedve std outhe company joe biden son hunter worked for. the pair appeared in court today after being arrested at a dc area airport while awaiting an international flight. it alleges the two funneled foreign nemoin u.toprs.o- trump and work to influence formu. ssa moe yvreonneof val and rich. >>> we will not hesitate to prosecute those who engage in criminal conduct that draws into question the integrity of our political process.>> reporter: trump has called the ongoing house impeachment inquiry a scam. wersmpin from a whistleb s abadlaerin pcoesddouint g t to investigate the bidens. three house committees issued subpoenas to lev parnas and igor fruman and energy secretary rick perry as part of the inquiry. the top democrat said giuliani iste sty.entiifre mess. cb rs an obligation oa tol. the indictmentinvolve mayor giuliani in any way. he only knewt nothem because e were his clients. the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine said to testify behind closed doors on capitol

the indictment for parnas and fruman also connects them to efforts to recall then-ambassador to ukraine, marie yovanovitch. the career diplomat testified friday behind closed doors for nearly nine hours. >> i think she is a courageous example for others. >> reporter: cbs news has learned fiona hill, the administration's former top aide on russia and europe, is expected to testify on monday that giuliani and e.u. ambassador gordon sondland avoided her and the national security process, instead running their own ukraine policy. >> well, i don't know. >> reporter: the president appeared to distance himself from giuliani on friday, but then defended him on twitter today, saying "he may seem a little rough around the edges, but is also a great guy and wonderful lawyer." cbs news has learned giuliani will remain on the president's legal team but will not be involved in matters related to ukraine. as for the reports of an investigation by federal prosecutors, giuliani tells us he has no knowledge of that. meg. >> oliver: natalie, president trump is also touting his partial trade deal with chin

igor fruman and lev parnas are both trump donors. born in the former soviet union — one in belarus, one in ukraine. they are accused of being part of a scheme to funnel foreign money to american political candidates, to buy influence. chris buckler reports from washington. lev parnas and igor fruman were both seen as being important donors to the republican party, that was by the leaders and donald trump himself, they were given access to the white house and indeed mr trump's resort in florida. the fbi arrested the gentleman on charges as a live the united states. for seek to say they have evidence of things between the ukrainian officials are determined, there accused of using an energy company to final funds from sources to the us. protecting the integrity of elections, predicting elections from unlovable foreign influence, our core functions of our campaign banking laws, we will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those who engage and draw into question in territory our process. mr trump had equal bremen and ponders, there w

house fruman and parnas subpoenas.ugh the indictment states fruman and parnas wanted out of her job by the request of a ukrainian official. >> for more we're joined by scott jennings, keirsten powers and josh campbell, author of the really interesting new book "cross fire hurricane, inside donald trump's war on the fbi." keirsten, the idea rudy giuliani now won't deal with ukraine matters i'm not even sure what that means because i mean rudy giuliani suddenly going silent on ukraine, i don't know, it seems unlikely. >> right. well, this seem tuesday be an area he's very interested in and obviously has his tentacles all over the place as it relates to ukrainian issues and has for a long time. obviously this is making trouble for the president. you have the president even not directly answering whether or not he's actually working for the president anymore, sort of referring to it in the past tense. so this would suggest to me that they're recognizing that there's a problem with his connections to ukraine and at a bare m

she can shed a lot of light on what happened. >> reporter: house democrats sending fruman and parnas kou documents related to their impeachment inquiry. to find dirt on biden. as discussed in president trump's july 25th phone call with the ukrainian president where trump mentioned yovanovitch, already fired. who states they wanted her out of her job by request of ukrainian official. and now top senate democrat chuck schumer is saying that rudy giuliani needs to testify before congress. especially since he's now clearly connected to these two men who have been arrested for these campaign finance violations. we've also learned that giuliani's financial detailing with these friends is under scrutiny. now, they made their initial appearance in virginia federal court yesterday. they are currently being held on $1 million bond. but they will be extradited to new york to face charges there. >> it feels like many of the pieces of the puzzle are coming together. thank you very much. >>> so what the new arrests could mean for rudy giuliani as well as the impeachment inquiry. that's next. ♪ ♪ i

igor fruman and lev parnas — seen here with donald trump last year — are both trump donors.in the former soviet union — one in belarus, one in ukraine. they are accused of being part of a scheme to funnel foreign money to american political candidates, to buy influence. here's the bbc‘s chris buckler in washington dc. lev parnas and igor fruman were seen as being important donors to the republican party, that was by the leaders donald trump himself, they we re leaders donald trump himself, they were given access to the white house andindeed were given access to the white house and indeed mr trump's resort in florida. they were seen as influential and bottomed with all the cash they brought. but the big questions are about where exactly this contributions came from. prosecutors have arrested them and have charged them arguing the money can( have charged them arguing the money can ( sources have charged them arguing the money can (sources and that have charged them arguing the money can ( sources and that they were essentially laundered through energy company that the two men

parnas, fruman, we need to know more about rudy giuliani's role in this. the whistle-blower complaint is the road map for the investigation and the ambassador's testimony was a critical piece of that and a credible one. >> did she say anything specific about efforts to investigate joe biden? >> you know, i'm not going to get into the substance of her testimony. what i can tell you is what's clear to me. what's clear to me is that when mr. giuliani showed up representing the interest of now indicted private citizens trying to make money and the political interests of the president, trying to gin up a political investigation against the bidens, that's when she had to be removed. they had to get her out of the way. and that is the key thing to understanding her role. she was a good person, doing her job. she was there to advance the american bipartisan policy of standing up, a market economy, rules-based society in ukraine free from corruption and she had to be removed so the financial interest and seedy political interest of mr. trump's and mr. giuliani's in

. >> in new york today two of rudy giuliani's associates, igor fruman and lev parnas pled not guiltythe charges leveled against them in connection with rudy giuliani's efforts in ukraine and other issues. what did we learn from their appearance today? >> we learned some weird stuff. to be totally honest. as if the case of parnas and fruman was not already bizarre, we know that rudy giuliani is tied into this somehow and that finally came through in court today. when an attorney for lev parnas was telling the judge, well, there may be some issues, some attorney/client privilege issues and some executive privilege issues when it comes to the discovery. he said that at times rudy giuliani was representing leave parnas but at times rudy giuliani -- or parnas was working for rudy giuliani and it went both ways and also rudy giuliani was the president's attorney so there might be executive privilege issues here. so it was basically kind of this very weird knottheydumped before the judge and haven't untangled. >> and what do you think? all of a sudden executive privilege is raised as sarah

what argument is there for parnas and fruman getting executive privilege? have to be arguing they were conducting the official business of the united states government on behalf of the president of the united states. that is what they would have to claim. the president's personal activities, whether representing him as part of giuliani's efforts to represent him as personal lawyer, that would be not be executive business. they would have to be claiming they're doing the business of the united states. in a strange way this sort of supports some of the stuff we've been hearing coming out of congress. >> andrew, as we all have learned by now, executive privilege, that's got to be invoked by the white house, you can't claim it yourself, but the idea to the investigators' mind say that these guys say, yeah, we were working for the president, we were helping him. >> it's amazing. so if you think back about the indictment that these two are currently facing, that indictment doesn't touch upon any business of the president, doesn't refer to the president or refer t