Andy Barr, critical of impeachment, got campaign donation from Ukrainian-born suspect

U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, who this week sharply criticized his House colleagues for their Ukraine-related impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, last year accepted campaign donations from one of the foreign nationals arrested Wednesday as part of the widening Ukrainian investigation.

Barr took $2,432 in re-election donations through a joint House Republican fundraising committee last year from Ukrainian-born businessman Igor Misha Fruman of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., according to federal election records.

Federal authorities on Wednesday arrested Fruman and his business partner, Lev Parnas, at Dulles International Airport airport in Washington on suspicion of trying to illegally buy influence from American politicians. The men were boarding a one-way flight for Germany.

When the Herald-Leader asked Barr’s office about the donations on Friday morning, a spokeswoman said Barr’s campaign would donate that sum to a local charity, Voices of Hope, that helps with addiction recovery. She said Barr never personally heard from Fruman.

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