Rudy Giuliani just can't get enough of legally challenged wealthy foreigners who need him to massage Attorney General William Barr's Justice Department to their benefit. Not only did Giuliani target two Ukrainian oligarchs in that very situation in his pursuit of getting dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, but he was also hosted by a wealthy Venezuelan in Madrid when he visited in August to meet up with a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, writes The Washington Post.
While Giuliani was on that domestic political errand for Donald Trump, he stayed with Venezuelan energy executive Alejandro Betancourt López. Betancourt, who has been mentioned in connection with a Justice Department probe of possible money laundering and bribery, had hired Giuliani to help him navigate the mess. Sure enough, Giuliani was among several attorneys who turned up at the department the following month to lobby the criminal division chief on behalf of Betancourt.
So Giuliani, currently representing Trump, showed up at the Justice Department to flex his muscles on behalf of another client. That appears to be the same meeting that forced Justice Department officials to put out a statement claiming that they wouldn't have met with Giuliani if they had known he was palling around with the now-indicted Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.
So, to recap, while his associates Lev and Igor were under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors, Giuliani met with the head of the Justice Department's criminal division on behalf of a client with whom he stayed in Madrid while he was working to extort Ukraine on behalf of Trump.