I asked Danny Tarkanian why two of the indicted Rudy Giuliani associates were at his campaign event last year and why he posed with them for that picture (above).

“At (the) Meet and Greet both were outside of (the) home and jumped in picture when…my communication director...asked Rudy to take a picture with me,” Tarkanian told me via email. “I took thousands of pictures during (the) campaign and don’t remember the vast majority of people in them.”

Tarkanian posted the picture to his Facebook page, which is how it became public.

I was especially curious why one of the men, Lev Parnas, is seen standing in front of the campaign rally and next to Tarkanian in this video as he introduced the former New York City mayor.

Tarkanian said he doesn’t recall seeing Parnas at the event and he “probably walked up front with Rudy...He came with Rudy. I do not believe I talked with him.”

In the indictment, Parnas and Fruman, along with two associates, are alleged to have tried to use money from a foreign national to set up a pot business in Nevada. Some of the money also was used to try to curry favor through campaign contributions with then-gubernatorial candidate and Attorney General Adam Laxalt, and Wes Duncan, the former Laxalt deputy who was seeking his job.

Tarkanian said he had no conversations with the men, Parnas and Igor Fruman, about getting into the marijuana business: “I have no desire to get in (the) pot business. Never have talked to anyone about getting into that business. Not my bag of entertainment.”

Another two men indicted along with Fruman and Parnas last week, Andrey Kukushkin and David Correia, set up a business entity as part of the alleged scheme to bring money into Nevada and buy political influence.