The federal government's investigation into former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has extended as far as Eastern Europe, according to a new report by Politico.
"A former Ukrainian parliamentarian has spoken with the FBI about his knowledge of Rudy Giuliani's activities, he told POLITICO. Andrii Artemenko, who appeared in a controversial documentary with the former New York mayor, said in a text message exchange that he has shared what he knows about Giuliani with federal investigators," Betsy Woodruff Swan reported Thursday. "He added that the FBI reached out to him last year and declined to share further details on his communication with law enforcement."
"Artemenko had a close-up view of Giuliani's work with Ukrainian officials and operatives — activity which appears to be a key focus of the FBI investigation into the former mayor," Politico explained. "Artemenko first drew major attention in the U.S. when The New York Times reported he gave Trump's then-lawyer Michael Cohen a draft of a peace plan between Ukraine and Russia. The plan reportedly would have leased Ukraine's Crimean peninsula to Russia for up to 100 years. Ukraine's top prosecutor said the plan appeared to be treasonous, and in 2017, then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stripped Artemenko of his citizenship, as RFE/RL reported. In the years since then, Artemenko stayed connected to Trump World and went into business with Erik Prince. He also registered as a lobbyist for Andrii Derkach, a Ukrainian politician who the U.S. government later sanctioned for election interference."
Federal investigators with search warrants combed Giuliani's Manhattan residence and a separate office on Wednesday, seizing electronic devices as part of a probe into his dealings in Ukraine.
Giuliani, himself once a top New York prosecutor and then mayor of the city, was a personal lawyer for Donald Trump when the president was impeached in December 2019 for seeking political help from Ukraine.
Giuliani spent months trying to help Trump find dirt in Ukraine on election rival Joe Biden and Biden's son Hunter, during 2018-2020.
Trump complained Thursday that an FBI raid on the New York apartment of his ex-personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was "so unfair."
With additional reporting by AFP
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