Arrested Giuliani associate attended Trump's invite-only 2016 election night party: report

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.

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.

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.

Trump this week said he didn't know Fruman and Parnas.

[link to thehill.com (secure)]