President Trump told reporters Thursday that he does not know Lev Parnas or Igor Fruman, two of Rudy Giuliani's business associates who were indicted for allegedly funneling foreign money into Republican political campaigns.
"I don't know those gentlemen. Now it's possible I have a picture with them because I have a picture with everybody. ... Somebody said there may be a picture or something at a fundraiser or somewhere. But I have pictures with everybody. ... I don't know, maybe they were clients of Rudy. You'd have to ask Rudy."
Why it matters: Parnas and Fruman helped introduce Giuliani to Ukrainian officials as part of an effort to push Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden over unsubstantiated corruption allegations — a campaign that is now at the center of an impeachment inquiry.
- Parnas' and Fruman's lawyer John Dowd — who separately represented Trump during the Mueller investigation — wrote in a letter to House committees investigating Ukraine last week that the two men "assisted Mr. Giuliani in connection with his representation of President Trump."
Go deeper: Foreign-born Giuliani associates arrested on campaign finance charges
