Lev Parnas, a now-arrested associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, attended President Trump’s 2016 invite-only election night party according to a report from a French newspaper about the event.
{mosads} Trump is seeking to distance himself from Parnas and fellow arrested associate Igor Fruman, and told reporters Thursday “I don’t know those gentlemen.”
But Parnas described himself as a friend of Trump’s who lived near his South Florida residence while speaking with France’s Le Figaro newspaper, Politico reported.
Parnas reportedly said that a friend from his hometown of Boca Raton, Fla., had hosted fundraising events for Trump and that his daughter sang on Trump’s behalf, although, according to Politico, it’s not clear what specifically Parnas was referencing.
“We are confident,” Parnas reportedly said. “America wants a change.”
The White House declined to comment on the report, directing The Hill instead to the Trump campaign. The campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Parnas and Fruman were arrested Wednesday and have been accused of violating campaign finance laws in order to give money to Republican committees including a $325,000 contribution in 2018 to a pro-Trump super PAC called America First Action.
The pair also helped Giuliani with efforts to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, although the charges appear to be unrelated to Giuliani’s work in Ukraine.
Trump this week said he didn’t know Fruman and Parnas.
“I don’t know those gentlemen. Now, it’s possible I have a picture with them because I have a picture with everybody,” he told reporters. “I don’t know, maybe they were clients of Rudy’s. You’d have to ask Rudy.”
A picture of Trump smiling with Giuliani, Fruman and Parnas has been published by various news outlets.