TALLAHASSEE, Fla. _ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis knew one of the two foreign-born Republican donors arrested last week on campaign finance fraud charges, describing him as "one of the top supporters" of President Donald Trump in the state.
"That was a guy who had donated. I didn't know any of the stuff that came out at the time. It seemed legitimate to us," the Republican governor told reporters at an event in Loxahatchee on Wednesday. "Once we saw what had happened last week we went ahead and disgorged that money to the treasury. Obviously if we had known that that was going to happen, we would've made a different decision at the time."
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were charged with using a straw company to donate large sums to Republican campaigns across the country. Federal campaign finance law bars donations from foreign sources.
Global Energy Producers, a company used by the pair, gave $50,000 to the Friends of Ron DeSantis committee in June 2018. The donation isn't listed in the indictment against the two, which refers to their donations to U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas.
"I knew Parnas. I didn't know the other guy as much," DeSantis said. "This was a guy at RNC functions, Trump Victory functions; he was at a lot of these things. I think he was viewed as one of the top supporters of the president in Florida. It was just like any other donor, nothing more than that."
Parnas and Fruman, who were born in former Soviet countries, also gave to other Florida Republicans: U.S. Sen. Rick Scott received $20,400 from the pair, and U.S. Rep. Brian Mast received $2,400. Mast said he would give the money back, and Scott has said he'll donate the money to charity.
Republican Party of Florida chairman Joe Gruters downplayed the influence of Parnas and Fruman on Tuesday, even after photos of the two with DeSantis at his election night victory party were revealed.
Parnas and Fruman helped Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, connect with Ukrainian officials as he sought information related to Hunter Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden, who is running for the Democratic nomination for president. Hunter was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company and received $50,000 a month in the position.
Giuliani received $500,000 from another company controlled by Parnas and Fruman, Boca Raton-based Fraud Guarantee, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
House Democrats have begun an impeachment inquiry against Trump based in part on the revelations that he asked the Ukrainian president to investigate the Bidens and help Giuliani in his efforts during a July phone call. Trump also froze a multimillion-dollar aid payment before the call was held.
