NBC's Pete Williams is reporting that Attorney General Bill Barr has been aware for months of an investigation into Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, the two foreign-born businessmen who served as Rudy Giuliani's henchmen in his efforts to get the Ukrainian government to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.
Williams, via NBC's Tom Winter, reveals that Barr was made aware of an investigation into the two men ever since this past February when he was sworn in as attorney general. Barr's knowledge of the case is notable because President Donald Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to get in contact with his attorney general during his now-infamous July 25th phone call.
Parnas and Fruman on Wednesday were arrested and indicted on campaign-finance charges. They have emerged as key figures in the scandal surrounding President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure the Ukrainian government to launch investigations against his political opponents. The two businessmen helped arrange meetings between Giuliani and Ukrainian prosecutor Yuri Lutsenko, who at one point claimed to have dirt on the Bidens.