Two Giuliani clients arrested on campaign finance charges

[WASHINGTON] Two Ukrainian-born men linked to efforts by US President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani to get Ukraine to investigate 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden have been arrested for campaign finance violations, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were arrested on Wednesday on charges brought by New York prosecutors and were to appear in court in Virginia on Thursday, the newspaper said.

The two men both made large donations to a pro-Trump fundraising committee and are facing criminal charges of violating campaign finance rules, the Journal said.

Mr Giuliani has identified Parnas and Fruman as his clients and they have been involved in his efforts to get Ukraine to probe Mr Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.

Mr Trump is facing an impeachment inquiry in the Democratic-led House of Representatives after asking Ukraine's new president to look into the Bidens.

The House last month sent letters to Parnas and Fruman asking them for testimony and documents related to their efforts to assist Giuliani in investigating the Bidens.

"A growing public record indicates that the president, his agent Rudy Giuliani, and others appear to have pressed the Ukrainian government to pursue two politically-motivated investigations," the committee chairmen wrote. "The committees have reason to believe that you have information and documents relevant to these matters."

AFP