Donald Trump's lawyer Rudolph Giuliani is said to have been not only a middleman for the US president in Ukraine: he apparently pursued his own interests. Giuliani tried to do business with officials of the Ukrainian government in the amount of several hundred thousand dollars. This is reported by the "New York Times". The sheet appeals to documents on it. So far, Giuliani has denied having pursued even business interests in Ukraine.
According to the New York Times, the documents show that Giuliani and his lawyers, who are close to him, have been considering for months more and more to work for officials of the Ukrainian government or their authorities. Accordingly, Giuliani has prepared and signed at least one retainer agreement. With this type of contract, a person can hire a US lawyer. Usually, it defines the exact service and a minimum payment for the lawyer. However, according to the newspaper, a contract was not concluded.
$ 300,000 for Giuliani's help?
Among other things, Giuliani proposed a deal to the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice. For $ 300,000 the ministry was to pay to his company, he wanted to help the government to track down money that had been stolen and stolen. The document was signed by Giuliani, but not by the then Ukrainian Minister of Justice.
Later drafts of this "retainer agreement" no longer spoke of Giuliani, but did provide services to lawyers close to him.
Giuliani's activities in Ukraine are central to the impeachment investigation of Trump. The Democrats in the US House of Representatives want to find out if the US President used military aid equivalent to around 361 million euros as a lever to bring Ukraine to an investigation that could benefit him in the US election campaign.
Giuliani wants to have refused commitment to Ukrainians
US Ambassador Gordon Sondland revealed last week that Giuliani should put pressure on President Volodymyr Selenskyj's government to investigate Trump's rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Sondland said at his public hearing in the House of Representatives that he had worked with Giuliani in dealings with Ukraine at the express arrangement of Trump.
The lawyer demanded a quid pro quo for a meeting of Selenskyj with Trump in the White House: a public announcement of the Trump-requested investigation (read more here). Giuliani denied the allegations. He never discussed US military aid for Ukraine with key figures in the affair.
Asked about his bustling business in Ukraine, Giuliani downplayed the matter, writes the New York Times. He said that a Ukrainian government official wanted to engage him this year, but he refused. Giuliani said he had been thinking about a separate deal with the Ukrainian government for a month, but then rejected the idea. "I never got a cent."