Not long before the Ukrainian president was inaugurated in May, an associate of Rudy Giuliani's journeyed to Kyiv to deliver a warning to the country's new leadership, a lawyer for the associate said.The associate, Lev Parnas, told a representative of the incoming government that it had to announce an investigation into Trump's political rival,
Joe Biden, and his son, or else Vice President
Mike Pence would not attend the swearing-in of the new president, and the
United States would freeze aid, the lawyer said.The claim by Parnas, who is preparing to share his account with impeachment investigators, challenges the narrative of events from Trump and Ukrainian officials that is at the core of the congressional inquiry. It also directly links Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, to threats of repercussions made to the Ukrainians, something he has strenuously denied.But Parnas' account, while potentially significant, is being contradicted on several fronts. None of the people involved dispute that the meeting occurred, but Parnas stands alone in saying the intention was to present an ultimatum to the Ukrainian leadership.Another participant in the meeting, Parnas' business partner, Igor Fruman, said Parnas' claim was false; the men never raised the issues of aid or the vice president's attendance at the inauguration, lawyers for Fruman said.Giuliani denied Parnas' contention that he had delivered the warning at the direction of Giuliani. "Categorically, I did not tell him to say that," Giuliani said.The dispute represents the clearest indication yet that Parnas, who was indicted along with Fruman last month on campaign finance charges, has turned on Trump and Giuliani.Parnas and Fruman, both Soviet-born businessmen from
Florida, worked with Giuliani for months in
Ukraine outside normal diplomatic channels to further Trump's interests. The men have been subpoenaed to testify before
Congress, and Parnas' lawyer has said his client will comply to the extent he can without incriminating himself. It is unclear if Parnas will ultimately be called to testify.Parnas' account of the meeting, if corroborated, would reveal the earliest known instance of U.S. aid being tied to demands for Ukraine to take actions that could benefit Trump's 2020 reelection campaign. It would also represent a more extensive threat -- to pull Pence from the inaugural delegation -- than was previously known.Trump froze nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine shortly before a July 25 call with the country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which Trump personally sought investigations into the Bidens and claims that Ukrainians had meddled in the 2016 election. In the call, Trump did not explicitly link the aid and the investigations.Trump has denied a quid pro quo involving aid, and Zelenskiy has said he never felt pressured to pursue an investigation.The meeting in Kyiv in May occurred after Giuliani, with Parnas' help, had planned a trip there to urge Zelenskiy to pursue the investigations. Giuliani canceled his trip at the last minute, claiming he was being "set up."Only three people were present at the meeting: Parnas, Fruman and Serhiy Shefir, a member of the inner circle of Zelenskiy, then the Ukrainian president-elect. The sit-down took place at an outdoor cafe in the days before Zelenskiy's May 20 inauguration, according to a person familiar with the events. The men sipped coffee and spoke in Russian, which is widely spoken in Ukraine, the person said.Parnas' lawyer, Joseph A. Bondy, said the message to the Ukrainians was given at the direction of Giuliani, whom Parnas believed was acting under Trump's instruction. Giuliani said he "never authorized such a conversation."A lawyer for Fruman, John M. Dowd, said his client told him the men were seeking only a meeting with Zelenskiy, the new president. "There was no mention of any terms, military aid or whatever they are talking about it -- it's false," said Dowd, who represents Fruman along with the lawyer Todd Blanche.In a statement on Friday, Shefir acknowledged meeting with Parnas and Fruman. But he said they had not raised the issue of military aid. Shefir said he briefed the incoming president on the meeting. Shefir was a business partner and longtime friend whom Zelenskiy appointed as his chief adviser on the first day of his presidency."We did not treat Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman as official representatives, and therefore we did not consider that they could speak on behalf of the U.S. government," Shefir said. He added that Parnas and Fruman had requested that Zelenskiy meet with Giuliani.Shefir said in his statement that he had told Parnas and Fruman "that we could consider meeting with Mr. Giuliani, but only publicly and officially and only after the inauguration of the newly elected president."The statement from Shefir, issued in response to an inquiry from The
New York Times, did not directly address Parnas' claims that he had delivered an ultimatum about U.S. aid in general and Pence's attendance at the inauguration. A representative for Zelenskiy did not respond to a request for further comment.Bondy, Parnas' lawyer, challenged Shefir's characterization. "It would simply defy reason," he said, "for Mr. Shefir to have attended a meeting with Mr. Parnas if he did not believe Mr. Parnas spoke for the president, and also for Mr. Parnas not to have conveyed the president's message at this meeting."Pence did not attend the inauguration. His office said in response to questions from The Times that it had told Ukrainian officials on May 13, a week before the swearing-in, that the vice president would not be there.Giuliani is under investigation by Manhattan prosecutors and the
FBI over whether he illegally engaged in lobbying for foreign interests in connection with the Ukraine efforts. He has denied any wrongdoing, saying he was working for his client, Trump.That investigation grew out of one into Parnas and Fruman. An indictment unsealed on Oct. 10 accused the men of illegally routing a $325,000 contribution to a political action committee supporting Trump through a shell company and linked them to an effort to recall the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie L. Yovanovitch, who was the subject of criticism from many of Trump's allies. The men were also charged with funneling campaign contributions from a
Russian businessman to other U.S. politicians to influence them in support of a marijuana venture. The two men, and two co-defendants, have pleaded not guilty.The impeachment inquiry was started after a whistleblower complained about the July phone call in which Trump asked Zelenskiy to look into Burisma, a Ukrainian company that gave Biden's son Hunter a seat on its board and paid him as much as $50,000 a month. Trump suggested to Zelenskiy that Ukraine should contact Giuliani and the United States attorney general, William P. Barr, about the Bidens.With Trump by his side at the
United Nations General Assembly in September, Zelenskiy told reporters that his July call with the president had been "normal" and that "nobody pushed me," adding that he did not want to become entangled in U.S. elections.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company