Donald Trump photographed with Giuliani associate arrested for foreign influence scheme
Donald Trump said he does not know two associates of his lawyer who were arrested overnight accused of funnelling foreign money to influence US elections.
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were arrested at Dulles International Airport in Washington DC, both holding one-way tickets out of the country.
The Wall Street Journal reported the pair were destined for Vienna.
Donald Trump has denied knowing Igor Fruman, seen here on the right. Supplied
The US president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani told a reporter from The Atlantic on Wednesday he was also flying to Vienna that night.
Parnas and Fruman are known associates of Mr Giuliani.
"I can't comment on it at this time," Mr Giuliani later told The Atlantic.
The pair were also photographed having breakfast at a Los Angeles restaurant with the president's son Donald Trump Jr in May this year.
"I don't know them. I don't know about them," the president told reporters outside the White House.
"Maybe they were clients of Rudy. You'd have to ask Rudy.
"It's possible I have a picture with them, because I have a picture with everybody."
Fruman has been photographed alongside Mr Trump.
The indictment against Parnas and Fruman accuses them of conspiring to "funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and state office so that the defendants could buy potential influence".
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, flanked by their lawyers, appearing in court after their arrests. AAP
Though the indictment does not indicate political parties, previous lawsuits identify Fruman as an invited guest of the president at his golf resort Mar-a-Lago.
Fruman's company Global Energy Producers donated US$325,000 to Mr Trump's political action committee in May last year.
Parnas and Fruman also donated thousands of dollars to an unnamed congressman, seeking his help in getting the US government to sack its ambassador to Ukraine.
Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas were arrested as they tried to board a flight to Vienna. AAP
Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, a career diplomat, was recalled by the Trump administration in May this year.
"The former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news," Mr Trump told his Ukraine counterpart in the July phone call that has led to his impeachment inquiry.
She has been summoned to testify before Congress today.
Federal prosecutors are alleging the donated money actually came from foreign sources.
Accepting money from non-Americans for political campaigns is a federal crime in the US.
Donald Trump declined to comment on the arrest of two men who have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaign fund. AAP
Who is Rudy Giuliani?
Rudy Giuliani went from being the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan to the mayor of New York in the 1990s.
He became a well-known public figure thanks to appearances in shows like Seinfeld and movies like Anger Management.
Rudy Giuliani is one of the most colourful characters in Donald Trump's orbit. AAP
He became a national hero in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York. But his 2008 Republican presidential bid flopped.
A long-time friend of Mr Trump, Mr Giuliani is now one of the president's personal lawyers.
In recent months, Mr Giuliani has made countless media appearances on behalf of the president, many of them bizarre and heated.
Rudy Giuliani is an associate of the two men arrested at a Washington DC airport. AAP
Mr Giuliani said he asked Ukraine to investigate Mr Trump's chief political rival Joe Biden, on behalf of the White House and the State Department.
Mr Trump is currently facing an impeachment inquiry for asking Ukraine's president to look into Mr Biden and his son Hunter.
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