Notorious Kremlin-Linked Oligarch Paid For Giuliani’s Trips

Caldwell ID

Description

Rudy Giuliani had his travel expenses covered by an indicted Ukrainian oligarch’s company as he sought dirt on President Biden, the New York Times reported this week. It’s a bombshell that requires us to think back, before the election overthrow attempt, before two impeachments, to 2019, when Giuliani was gallivanting around former Soviet states seeking ways to smear Trump’s likely opponent. The revelation of who was paying his bills would have been shocking — if not entirely surprising — at the time. It remains shocking today. But, if anything, much of the coverage of it is understated. The point isn’t only that Giuliani’s paymaster is under federal indictment. Rather, it’s who the oligarch — Dmytro Firtash — is. The Times reported that Firtash’s firm paid thousands of dollars for Giuliani’s travel in summer 2019, including for a stay at the Ritz London and for private flights. Giuliani and Firtash have issued similar responses to the Times’ report: Giuliani, via an attorney, claims that the former mayor had “no idea” the oligarch was funding the trips. A Firtash representative told the Times that the oligarch was unaware, too, claiming the payments were due to an “inadvertent error” and that Firtash did not authorize the transactions. The implication of the cash flows, as the New Republic noted, is that a pro-Kremlin oligarch paid for Giuliani’s efforts to dig up dirt on former President Trump’s political opponent at the time: Joe Biden. A close look at Firtash and allegations around his past connections and dealings, sheds more light on who financed Giuliani’s summer 2019 activities.