Associates of President Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani urged Ukraine to install new leadership at state-run gas firm Naftogaz in order to benefit some of their allies, according to the Associated Press.
The associates included business men and Republican donors linked to both Trump and Giuliani, connections they touted as they pressured the country. Their plan reportedly was to steer lucrative contracts to companies controlled by Trump allies, people familiar with the plan told the Associated Press.
However, the plan hit a snag when then-President Petro Poroshenko lost the 2019 election to Volodymyr Zelensky, whose July phone call with Trump sparked a whisteblower complaint and an impeachment inquiry after the president urged the foreign leader to investigate 2020 Democratic front-runner former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter for corruption.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry then took up efforts to install new management at the firm with Zelensky, but it’s unclear if his attempt was in coordination with the Trump and Giuliani allies.
The news comes amid reports that Trump told congressional Republicans Perry pressed him to make the July phone call in question.
“Not a lot of people know this, but I didn’t even want to make the call. The only reason I made the call was because Rick asked me to. Something about an LNG [liquified natural gas] plant,” Trump reportedly said on Friday.
At the time, Perry spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes confirmed that the secretary urged Trump to speak with Zelensky “to discuss matters related to their energy security and economic development.”
