Governor DeSantis To Return $50K Contribution From Indicted Men Linked To Trump's Personal Attorney
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is directing a political action committee to return $50,000 he received as a contribution from two South Florida businessmen arrested Wednesday.
DeSantis received the money in 2018 through a company called Global Energy Producers.
Global Energy Producers was created by Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.
Parnas and Fruman were arrested on a four-count indictment that included charges of conspiracy, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and records falsification.
Helen Aguirre Ferre, Director of Communications for DeSantis released the following statement on Thursday afternoon:
"The allegations regarding Global Energy Producers to the Governor's affiliated political action committee in 2018 are troubling. Therefore, Governor DeSantis is directing the political action committee to return the money to the federal government."
The indictment says Parnas and Fruman "sought to advance their personal financial interests and the political interests of at least one Ukrainian government official with whom they were working."
Since late 2018, Fruman, who had a property in Sunny Isles Beach, and Parnas, who lives in Boca Raton, have introduced Rudy Giuliani, personal attorney to President Donald Trump to several current and former senior Ukrainian prosecutors to discuss the Biden case, according to the Wall St. Journal.
Parnas and Fruman have had discussions both with officials in Ukraine and the United States.
These introductions and discussions have raised the questions as to whether they should register as foreign agents.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press and The Miami Herald contributed to this report.)