Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, was reportedly paid $400,000 (£300,000) to arrange talks between Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
The payment was allegedly arranged by Ukrainian intermediaries looking to secure a “backchannel” to Mr Trump, in hopes of getting Mr Poroshenko more time with the US president when he visited last June, the BBC reported.
Mr Cohen served as Mr Trump’s attorney for more than a decade. He is not registered as a representative of Ukraine, as would be required by US law if he did bidding on the country's behalf.
There is no suggestion that Mr Trump was aware of the payment to to his then-attorney. Rudy Giuliani, an outside lawyer for Mr Trump in the special counsel investigation, said he had "no reason not to believe" Mr Cohen, who denied the allegations.
"Payments can be proved pretty easily, so it would be silly to deny it if it happened," Mr Giuliani told Business Insider. "And he never registered as a foreign agent. And as far as I know, never acted as one."
The White House and an attorney for Mr Cohen did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment. Mr Cohen told Reuters news agency the story was "completely false".
Two Ukrainians who were said to have opened the backchannel also denied the allegations. The Ukrainian president’s office called the story a "blatant lie, slander and fake".
But Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for an adult film star currently suing Mr Cohen and Mr Trump, said that Suspicious Activity Reports filed by Mr Cohen's bank to the US Treasury showed the lawyer had received money from "Ukrainian interests".
Ukrainian intermediaries reportedly contacted Mr Cohen last year, ahead of Mr Poroshenko’s visit to the White House. Existing Ukrainian lobbyists and the country’s Washington embassy could not secure promises of a lengthy meeting – which the White House had billed as a “drop-by” – so the intermediaries reached out to Mr Cohen.
Negotiations over the meeting’s length reportedly lasted into the early hours of Mr Poroshenko’s visit. But the Ukrainian president seemed satisfied afterward, calling the talks “substantial”.
A week later, the Ukrainian Anti Corruption Bureau dropped its investigation into former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. The investigation was moved to the state prosecutor's office.
Mr Poroshenko was reportedly eager to meet with Mr Trump because of an earlier incident involving Mr Manafort. Several sources told the BBC that Mr Poroshenko, thinking that Hillary Clinton would win the US election, authorised the August 2016 leak of a document appearing to show that Mr Manafort received money from pro-Russia interests inside Ukraine.
Mr Manafort was forced to step down from his role and was later charged with conspiracy against the US, among other crimes. He has pleaded not guilty.
Mr Cohen himself is currently under investigation for possible bank and tax fraud, as well as possible campaign law violations linked to payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels according to Reuters. FBI agents raided his apartment and offices last month, taking business records, emails and documents.
The attorney also received hundreds of thousands of dollars from companies like AT&T and Novartis in the wake of Mr Trump’s election, after promising them exclusive insight into the incoming administration. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
