Giuliani’s business partner Igor Fruman is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday

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Fruman and another associate of Giuliani, Lev Parnas, were initially indicted in October 2019 in a case alleging that they funneled foreign money into the coffers of the American campaign, to which they had pleaded not guilty.

In September 2020, prosecutors filed additional charges that appeared designed to increase pressure on defendants to cooperate. Fruman and Parnas also pleaded not guilty to these charges.

It is not clear whether Fruman’s guilty plea will include a cooperation agreement. An attorney for Fruman did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Any help from Fruman to prosecutors could threaten Giuliani, who has been the subject of a separate criminal investigation underway by federal prosecutors in Manhattan for more than two years.

Giuliani has denied any wrongdoing. An attorney for Giuliani did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on Monday.

Prior to their indictment, Fruman and Parnas were closely linked to Giuliani, the former personal lawyer for former President Donald Trump. For months, they contributed to Giuliani’s efforts in Ukraine to compile what he claimed to be damaging information about Trump’s political rival Joe Biden, whose son, Hunter Biden, was on the board of directors of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

Federal prosecutors have investigated Giuliani’s activities in Ukraine, including whether he carried out illegal lobbying activities for Ukrainian officials while he was pursuing a Biden-related investigation, CNN reported.
After federal agents executed search warrants in Giuliani’s apartment and office earlier this year, a lawyer for Parnas expressed concern in documents filed by the court that documents seized from Giuliani could be relevant. for the case of associates.

An independent review of documents collected during the searches is currently underway to determine whether any are subject to solicitor-client privilege.

This story was updated with additional details on Monday.

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