Giuliani's Ukraine Investigation: Legal Or Not?

Rudy Giuliani, former lawyer to President Donald Trump, has been under investigation for several years over his business dealings in Ukraine. Giuliani travelled to various countries to meet with advisers for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, attempting to convince the foreign government to investigate potential corruption by former Vice President Joe Biden, whose son Hunter was a paid board member of a Ukrainian oil and gas company. Giuliani has denied any wrongdoing, but federal prosecutors are examining whether he broke lobbying laws and failed to disclose his work to the US government on behalf of foreign entities.

Giuliani's investigation of Biden and his son

In 2019, Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, was featured in a whistleblower complaint that alleged President Trump used his position to pressure officials in Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, for "corruption". This complaint became the basis for a congressional impeachment inquiry. Giuliani had travelled to Ukraine to meet with advisers for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, attempting to convince the foreign government to investigate the Bidens.

Giuliani's efforts in Ukraine included meetings with Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach, who was later sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for being an active Russian agent interfering in the 2020 election. Giuliani also worked with Lev Parnas, who was indicted for campaign finance violations. Giuliani himself has been under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan.

Giuliani's investigation centred on Hunter Biden's work for Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, where he served on the board from 2014 to 2019. Giuliani attempted to prove that Joe Biden's policies towards Ukraine were influenced by his son's work for Burisma. In October 2020, Giuliani leaked emails and photos from a laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden to the New York Post. The materials suggested that Hunter Biden arranged a meeting between his father and an adviser to Burisma, although no evidence of such a meeting was found in Joe Biden's schedules. The authenticity of the materials could not be verified, and they were treated with suspicion by social media companies and intelligence experts, who warned they could be part of a disinformation campaign.

In response to the leak, the Biden campaign stated: "Investigations by the press, during impeachment, and even by two Republican-led Senate committees [...] have all reached the same conclusion: that Joe Biden carried out official U.S. policy toward Ukraine and engaged in no wrongdoing."

Giuliani's associates charged with campaign finance-related crimes

Two associates of Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested on charges of scheming to funnel foreign money to US politicians while trying to influence US-Ukraine relations. Parnas and Fruman were helping Giuliani investigate Joe Biden, who was a Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president. The two were arrested at Dulles International Airport, where they had one-way tickets for a flight out of the country.

Parnas and Fruman were accused of making illegal campaign contributions through a fictitious company to advance their own financial interests and the political interests of Ukrainian government officials. They also made other fraudulent individual contributions to politicians they hoped to influence.

In 2021, Parnas was convicted on all six counts of campaign finance crimes, including funneling a Russian entrepreneur's money to US politicians. He was later sentenced to a year in prison. Fruman pleaded guilty to a single count of solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national and awaits sentencing.

Giuliani's lawyer claims he did no work as a foreign agent

In 2018, Rudy Giuliani, former lawyer to President Donald Trump, was accused of violating the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). This was due to his work for international clients while serving the president, including a paid speech delivered to Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian resistance group formerly listed as a terrorist organisation by the US State Department.

Giuliani denied any wrongdoing, stating that he had never lobbied Trump and that he did not represent foreign governments in front of the US government. He also claimed that he did not need to register under FARA because he worked for the president pro-bono. However, legal experts argued that Giuliani's actions constituted "political activity" under FARA and that his speech to MEK would likely require him to register under the statute.

Despite the accusations, Giuliani maintained his innocence and refused to register as a foreign agent. He argued that he had never lobbied the president on any matters and that his work for international clients did not interfere with his duties as the president's lawyer.

Giuliani's lawyer, Joseph Cammarata, defended him by saying:

> 'It’s not non-compliance, it’s cutting through a lot of red tape.'

However, in 2019, Giuliani faced further legal troubles related to his work in Ukraine. He was featured prominently in a whistleblower complaint that alleged President Trump used his powers to pressure Ukraine for political dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden. Giuliani was subpoenaed as part of the impeachment investigation but it is unclear if he fully complied.

While Giuliani's role and culpability in the Ukraine affair were uncertain, legal experts deemed his actions "very unusual." The impeachment inquiry and the FARA violation accusations highlighted a pattern of potential conflicts of interest and ethical concerns surrounding Giuliani's work for international clients while serving as the president's personal lawyer.

Giuliani's meetings with advisers for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky

Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, was featured prominently in a whistleblower complaint that served as the basis for a congressional impeachment inquiry. The complaint alleged that Trump used his presidential powers to pressure officials in Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden for "corruption".

According to the complaint, Giuliani travelled to various countries to meet with advisers for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The goal of these meetings was to convince the Ukrainian government to investigate the Bidens.

Giuliani's role in these meetings is still unclear, and it is uncertain whether he broke the law. Jeremy Paul, a law professor and former dean of the Northeastern University School of Law, stated that Giuliani's actions were at least "very unusual". Paul also noted that Giuliani's argument for attorney-client privilege would "be a stretch".

While Giuliani is the president's personal lawyer, he is still a private citizen and was not confirmed by Congress for his role. Paul commented that while he was unaware of any rule preventing the president from using someone outside the government for diplomacy, invoking attorney-client privilege in this context "would circumvent all the procedures set up by the [U.S.] government to ensure transparency and democracy."

As of October 1, 2019, Giuliani had not stated whether he planned to comply with a subpoena from Democrats in the House as part of their impeachment investigation.

Giuliani's efforts to undermine the American ambassador to Ukraine, Marie L. Yovanovitch

Lutsenko, who has been accused of corruption by Ukrainian civil society organizations, claimed that Yovanovitch, an Obama administration appointee, had interfered in Ukraine's politics and given him a "do-not-prosecute" list. The U.S. State Department called Lutsenko's allegations an "outright fabrication" and indicated they were a "classic disinformation campaign." Lutsenko later recanted his claims of a "do-not-prosecute" list.

Solomon's stories were amplified by President Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., Giuliani, Solomon, and conservative media outlets. Ukrainians who opposed Yovanovitch were also sources for Giuliani, who was on a months-long search for political dirt in Ukraine to help President Trump. In a November 2019 interview, Giuliani confirmed that he believed he "needed Yovanovitch out of the way" because she was going to make his investigations difficult.

On April 24, 2019, after complaints from Giuliani and other Trump allies that Yovanovitch was undermining and obstructing Trump's efforts to investigate Joe Biden, Trump ordered Yovanovitch's recall. She returned to Washington, D.C., on April 25, and her mission as ambassador was terminated on May 20, 2019.

In a July 25, 2019, phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump pressured the Ukrainian government to investigate Biden and disparaged Yovanovitch, calling her "bad news." An audio tape from a private dinner between Trump and top donors in April 2018, made public by ABC News in January 2020, captures Trump demanding Yovanovitch's removal, saying: "Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it."

Yovanovitch's abrupt ousting shocked and outraged career State Department diplomats. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker, the chief diplomat for U.S. policy for Europe, testified that he had urged top State Department officials to issue a statement expressing strong support for Yovanovitch, but his proposal was rejected.

Yovanovitch's ouster became one of the issues explored in the House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry against Trump, with her recall termed "a political hit job" by Democratic members of Congress.

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