Recording shows access Parnas, Fruman had to Trump at event
Ten days before Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman dined with President Donald Trump at his Washington hotel, they were part of a small group of Republican Party donors who met with the president at Mar-aLago, his Florida estate, a new recording shows.
The two men — who later assisted Rudy Giuliani’s efforts in Ukraine — were part of a gathering in an ornate room of the property also attended by Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, according to the video and people in attendance.
While it was known that Mr. Fruman and Mr. Parnas had attended an event at Mar-a-Lago, the focus of the event, the timing and who else was in attendance had not been made public.
The April 2018 meeting came days before the two men took part in a donor dinner with the president at his Washington hotel, an encounter captured on a video released last week by Mr. Parnas’ attorney.
During that dinner, Mr. Parnas told the president that the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine was agitating against him, prompting Mr. Trump to abruptly call for her firing.
The recordings of the two events undercut Mr. Trump’s repeated assertions that he does not know Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman, who were arrested in October on campaign finance charges. Last week, the president referred to Mr. Parnas as “a con man” and a “groupie.”
Taken together, the two recordings provide a window into Mr. Trump’s close interactions with high-dollar donors, despite his pledge to “drain the swamp.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“On a given day, the chairwoman greets hundreds if not thousands of people at events across the country. This is nothing more than that,” said Michael Ahrens, an RNC spokesman.
He declined to answer additional questions regarding the event, including about the guests in attendance.
In an interview, Mr. Parnas said the back-to-back events he attended with Mr.
Trump show the proximity that he and Mr. Fruman had to the president.
“When Trump would see us, he would call us, ‘my boys,’” he said. “Me and Igor together? It’s not something you’d forget. Particularly in that scene.”
Mr. Giuliani — who began working with Mr. Fruman and Mr. Parnas later that year — was not present at either gathering, people familiar with the meetings said.
Mr. Parnas had donated $50,000 to a joint fundraising committee for Mr. Trump’s campaign and the RNC in October 2016, campaign finance records show.
Mr. Parnas’ attorney, Joseph Bondy, provided the recording of the Mar-a-Lago gathering to The Washington Post. He said he has previously given a copy to House impeachment investigators.
Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman say little in the recording, but Mr. Parnas can be seen acting as a photographer for the group, snapping photos of other attendees on their cellphones before posing for a picture with Mr. Trump.
Ms. McDaniel — whose nameplate can be seen directly across from where Mr. Fruman was seated — can be heard giving a presentation on polling and the 2018 midterms.
Also in attendance: thenRep. Pete Sessions, of Texas, who has been subpoenaed as part of the ongoing criminal investigation, and Brian Ballard, a Florida lobbyist who is close with Mr. Trump.