Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for U.S. President Donald Trump, has sought deals with Ukrainian officials in conjunction with his demand for them to investigate corruption charges against Trump's rivals, the US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sundland, denied accusations of harassment after his testimony against Trump.
The New York Times said it had seen documents confirming Giuliani's alleged attempt to enter hundreds of thousands of dollars in deals with Ukrainian government officials, although Giuliani had previously denied any business with the Ukrainians.
The newspaper quoted Giuliani as saying that a Ukrainian official contacted him offering to work for him, but Giuliani rejected the offer, and said he had considered a separate deal with the Ukrainian government, but he changed the idea later, according to the New York Times.
The newspaper pointed out that this was done at a time when Giuliani pressed the Ukrainians to announce corruption investigations requested by Trump against the son of his political opponent Joe Biden, a possible candidate for the Democratic Party for the presidency.
Giuliani's lawyer, Robert Costello, told Reuters that the latter called Trump this week to confirm that he was joking when he told media he had a "document to secure himself" in case the president turned against him in the Ukraine case.
"He shouldn't have to joke. He's a serious person. I told him there are 10,000 comedians who don't find work and you're making a joke. It's not that way," Costello said.
Giuliani has said he was derided when he made the remarks. Trump also ignored them and told reporters in the Oval Office this week: "Rudy is a great person."
| Sundeland testifies in Congress on November 20 (European) |
Accusations of harassment
Three women accused the US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sundland, of sexually abusive behavior, a week after a congressional hearing in which the key witness testified as part of an investigation to isolate Trump over the Ukraine case. These allegations he said were fabricated for political motives.
The three women published a joint article in which they said Sundeland retaliated against them professionally after he had been sexually rejected between 2003 and 2008.
During his testimony to Congress on November 20, Sundeland directly referred to Trump's involvement in a plot to force Ukraine to investigate Biden, and said Trump had ordered him and two officials to work with Giuliani.
The Democrats said the testimony of Sundeland strongly support the charge of abuse of power that justifies the isolation of Trump, but the latter sought to distance himself from Sundeland, and said, "I do not know him well."