Two Rudy Giuliani associates who once dined with Trump and Trump Jr. arrested

Two Ukrainian-born business partners, who showered Republican campaign committees with nearly $500,000 and dined with President Donald Trump at the White House, were arrested late Wednesday on campaign finances charges, federal authorities said Thursday.

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman helped Rudy Giuliani meet a key Ukrainian prosecutor as the president's personal lawyer sought to discredit Trump's political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. Both of the men also are among the prospective witnesses House Democrats want to question in their impeachment inquiry.

Parnas and Fruman, who were born in Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union but who now live in Florida, have become political players in recent years. In May 2018, Parnas posted pictures on Facebook of himself and Fruman with Trump in the White House and with his son, Donald Trump Jr., in California. That was the same month their company, Global Energy Producers LLC, was credited for giving $325,000 to a campaign committee that supports Trump's re-election.

But in a legal dust-up that appears unrelated to the Ukraine scandal, the campaign contribution sparked a complaint to the Federal Election Commission – and at least two lawsuits – because of questions about the source of the money. Despite the generous political contributions, Parnas faces a $510,000 federal judgment in a case over a debt for a movie that never got made.

Three House committees – Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, and Oversight and Reform – scheduled depositions Thursday with Parnas and Friday with Fruman to ask how they fit in with Trump's dealings with Ukraine. Those panels have also subpoenaed documents from Giuliani and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Attorney John Dowd, who represents the two men, had earlier notified the committees that they were given too little notice to prepare. It was unclear when the pair would make their first court appearances on the campaign finance charges.