Former associate of Trump's lawyer Rudy Guiliani found guilty of illegal campaign financing

Lev Parnas, a former associate of Donald Trump's ex-lawyer Rudy Giuliani, was found guilty by a US federal court on Friday of violating campaign financing laws in the 2018 election.

. Parnas, a US citizen born in Soviet Ukraine, was arrested at a Washington airport in October 2019, as Trump and associates such as Giuliani were facing scrutiny over attempts to pressure authorities in Kiev to deliver compromising information about Joe Biden.

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. That investigation eventually led to Trump's first impeachment proceedings, which ended with him being acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate.

. On Friday, a federal jury in a Manhattan court found that Parnas and his associate Andrey Kukushkin "conspired to manipulate the United States political system for their own financial gain," according to a statement from prosecutors.

. "In order to gain influence with American politicians and candidates, they illegally funnelled foreign money into the 2018 midterm elections with an eye toward making huge profits in the cannabis business."

. Parnas, who pleaded not guilty, was accused of concealing the real origin of contributions he made to several candidates in US local and federal elections in 2018, including a $325,000 donation to America First Action, a political organization supporting Trump.

. Prosecutors also charged that some of the contributions to Republican campaigns in the state of Nevada made by Parnas were actually from a Russian businessman, in violation of a ban on accepting election financing from foreign nationals.

. Parnas and Kukushkin remained free Friday awaiting sentencing.

Former associate of Trump's lawyer Rudy Guiliani found guilty of illegal campaign financing

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