Ex-Giuliani pals touted photos with Trump while pressing wealthy Russian to invest in pot business
Two former Rudy Giuliani associates presented themselves as bigshots with friends in high places — flaunting photos with President Donald Trump himself — while soliciting investments for a shady marijuana startup, prosecutors said Thursday.
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, best known for helping Giuliani and Trump dig for political dirt on President Biden in Ukraine, sent the photos in encrypted text messages to Russian tycoon Andrey Muraviev in 2018.
Prosecutors displayed the pics to the jury at Parnas’ trial in Manhattan Federal Court as evidence the Soviet-born businessman violated campaign finance laws by soliciting $1 million from Muraviev for a multistate weed business. Fruman has already pleaded guilty to charges related to the pot business venture.
Parnas and Fruman told Muraviev they would use the cash for illegal campaign contributions to U.S. politicians they believed could help secure licenses for selling recreational weed, according to prosecutors.
In addition to Trump, Parnas and Fruman touted pictures of themselves with Giuliani and the ex-president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump.
They also shared photos taken with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and failed Nevada gubernatorial candidate Adam Laxalt. Parnas and Fruman planned to funnel Muraviev’s cash to both DeSantis and Laxalt, among several other politicians in at least three more states that had already or were about to legalize marijuana, according to prosecutors.
The flurry of photos, taken at fund-raisers and other exclusive events, appeared aimed at convincing Muraviev that Parnas and Fruman were big shots with deep ties to the GOP elite.
“Today, Florida became ours forever,” Fruman wrote in one message to Muraviev along with a photo of himself and DeSantis at a fundraiser.
Texting about the same event, Parnas added, “It’s going to be huge.”
Parnas has pleaded not guilty to violating laws banning political contributions from foreigners. He’s also accused of obscuring the source of a $325,000 donation to America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC.
Joseph Bondy, Parnas’ lawyer, emphasized there was no record that most of Muraviev’s cash was spent on political donations.
“We have no knowledge as to whether any of this was ever committed or paid,” Bondy said.
Prosecutors have acknowledged that only $100,000 of Muraviev’s dough was spent on political donations. Parnas and Fruman appear to have used the rest for personal expenses, according to the feds.
Neither Trump nor Giuliani are accused of any wrongdoing, though their names have been referenced repeatedly at Parnas’ trial, which began Wednesday.
Many of the messages from Parnas and Fruman were sent to Muraviev via an intermediary, Andrey Kukushkin.
Kukushkin, a Ukrainian-born businessman also on trial for the weed scheme, argues Parnas and Fruman duped him and Muraviev.
Despite promising Muraviev’s money would go toward a weed business, Kukushkin says Parnas and Fruman used nearly all of it to pay off credit card debt and bankroll their lavish lifestyles.
Some of the messages displayed in court Thursday showed Fruman at times turned hostile while squeezing Muraviev for cash.
“We will f--k up everything again. Where is the money Andrey?” Fruman wrote over WhatsApp to Kukushkin after Muraviev hesitated to send over the second half of the committed $1 million.
Kukushkin wrote back that his boss felt he had already forked over “way too much” cash.
“It would be good for us to see the results after the first 500 in order to keep sowing more,” Kukushkin wrote.
Prosecutors say Muraviev eventually wired over the second $500,000 anyway, before pulling out of the business venture when asked for another $2 million.
