Rudy Giuliani blasted House Republicans’ top impeachment lawyer, claiming he wrongly asserted during House impeachment hearings that President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer had business interests in Ukraine.
Steve Castor, general counsel for the Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, on Wednesday asked U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland: “Granted, Mr. Giuliani had business interests in Ukraine, correct?”
“Now I understand he did; I didn’t know that at the time,” Sondland answered.
In mentioning the business interests, Castor referred to two Giuliani associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who have since been indicted in New York on allegations that they hid the source of campaign donations.
Giuliani wrote on Twitter: “Republican lawyer doesn’t do his own research and preparation, and is instead picking up Democrat lies, shame. Allow me to inform him: I have NO financial interests in Ukraine, NONE! I would appreciate his apology.”
Castor, who has served on the House committee for more than 14 years, has led Republican public questioning of witnesses since impeachment hearings began last week. He has investigated matters including Internal Revenue Service targeting of Tea Party groups and the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
Scrutiny of Giuliani has increased in recent weeks as his role in pushing Trump’s agenda with Ukraine while acting as the president’s personal attorney has emerged as a key element in the impeachment inquiry.
Giuliani’s ties to Ukraine go back more than a decade. In 2008, he advised Vitali Klitschko, a former boxing champion who was campaigning for mayor of Kyiv. In June 2017, Giuliani was paid by a prominent Ukrainian billionaire, Victor Pinchuk, to speak at a conference there.
He has also worked with Pavel Fuks, a wealthy Ukrainian-Russian, who moved back to Ukraine in 2015 after about 20 years in Moscow, where he built a fortune in real estate and banking.