Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, right, answers questions from reporters, with his wife Casey. Standing behind Casey DeSantis is Lev Parnas | AP Photo | AP Photo
Indicted Giuliani associate joined DeSantis on last-minute campaign swing
TALLAHASSEE — Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian American businessman accused of funneling foreign money into U.S. elections, attended a string of events with Ron DeSantis in the closing moments of the Republican candidate’s 2018 campaign for governor in Florida.
In a photograph taken Nov. 4, two days before the election that propelled DeSantis to victory, Parnas is next to the smiling candidate at a campaign rally in South Daytona. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is standing nearby in the shot, which was published by Getty Images.
Other photographs show Parnas at a Boca Raton event held 200 miles away an hour and a half later that day.
DeSantis last week acknowledgedknowing Parnas, who was arrested this month along with Igor Fruman, another South Florida businessman. Both men are associates of Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have accused Parnas and Fruman of attempting to funnel foreign money into U.S. elections and influence U.S. politics on behalf of at least one Ukrainian government official.
Other pictures of Parnas with DeSantis at campaign events have surfaced, but the Getty photographs appear to show the two men traveling together during the heat of the gubernatorial campaign. DeSantis eventually edged out Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum after a recount.
Edward MacMahon, a Virginia attorney representing Parnas, said “if he was in the pictures,” then Parnas was likely on the DeSantis campaign plane.
Helen Aguirre Ferré, a spokesperson for DeSantis, said that while pictures show Parnas at two campaign events that day, Giuliani and the DeSantis campaign each had their own planes and Parnas used the Giuliani plane.
“The governor was not on the plane” that Parnas was on, Ferré said.
Bondi, in a text message, said she could not recall if Parnas was on the plane used by the campaign that day, or whether she talked to Parnas.
The Wall Street Journal on Monday published a report on Parnas’ private Instagram account, which featured a picture of Parnas and Giuliani on a jet that was posted a day before the DeSantis campaign events.
The Journal report included a photo from Parnas’ account that showed Giuliani at the Nov. 4 Boca Raton event for DeSantis. A photo posted on Twitter shows Parnas standing behind Giuliani at the same campaign rally.
Parnas and Fruman are based in South Florida and were helping Giuliani investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and frequent target of Trump attacks.
DeSantis last week said his campaign had disgorged $50,000 in donations from a company created by Parnas and Fruman and described him as a typical donor who had attended Republican National Committee functions and Trump Victory functions.
“He was at a lot of these things, was I think viewed as one of the top supporters of the president in Florida,” DeSantis told reporters on Oct 16. “It was like any other donor, nothing more than that.”
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged Parnas and Fruman and two other men with conspiracy, making false statements and falsifying business records. Before their arrests, the two men had been drawn into a U.S. House-led impeachment inquiry into Giuliani’s work as Trump's personal lawyer.
Prosecutors claim the two funneled $325,000 to a Trump-aligned super PAC through Global Energy Partners, a company created shortly before the contribution was made.
Global Energy Partners also gave $50,000 to a DeSantis-controlled political committee in June 2018. After the two men were indicted, DeSantis gave the money to the U.S. Treasury.
The federal indictment said the two men “concealed the scheme from the candidates, campaigns, federal regulators and the public.”
Matt Dixon contributed to this report.
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