Both Derkach and Dubinsky clearly want to be heard by Giuliani and his client in the White House. They organized a press conference in early October after meeting with Giuliani, and Dubinsky described plans to create a commission at the Rada to investigate the plundering and laundering of billions of dollars from the Ukrainian budget during the presidencies of both Yanukovych and his post-Euromaidan successor, Petro Poroshenko.

“Dubinsky is the most scandalous and toxic member of Zelensky’s party, a former journalist with dubious wealth, nothing will stop him from getting involved in shadowy corrupt deals,” Gumenyuk told The Daily Beast. The Ukrainian media group Bihus.Info has published investigative reports into Dubinsky’s allegedly ill-gotten gains.

A source connected to the Presidential Administration told The Daily Beast that on Thursday President Zelensky’s aide and close friend Andrii Yermak met with Giuliani—and their conversation was discussed at the Presidential Administration on Friday morning. That was not the first time that Giuliani was pushing Yermak to conduct the Trump-desired investigations, as testimony before the impeachment hearings established previously. The Daily Beast asked Yermak to comment on his latest conversation with Trump’s lawyer, but did not receive any response.