Rudy Giuliani may have been targeting legally vulnerable Ukrainians to provide assistance in his quest to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, The New York Times reports.

Ukrainian energy tycoon Dmitry Firtash said Soviet-born American businessmen Lev Parnas and Igor Frumin offered to help Firtash, who is facing extradition to the United States on bribery and racketeering charges, with his legal troubles by convincing him to hire lawyers Victoria Toensing and Joseph diGenova, who have ties to President Trump.

Parnas' lawyer Joseph Bondy confirmed the account, but added a twist. In Bondy's telling, Parnas and Frumin — at Giuliani's direction — encouraged Firtash to help find any potential compromising information related to the Bidens or other Democrats "as part of any resolution to his extradition matter."

The Times notes that Firtash's relationship with Toensing and diGenova has led to speculation that he is at least indirectly financing Giuliani's quest, but Firtash denies providing anybody with information about the Bidens or financing the search for it. Giuliani has also denied tasking Parnas with approaching Firtash, though he did say he sought information from Firtash's original legal team. Either way, Giuliani said there wouldn't have been anything wrong with asking Firtash about it even if he had. Read more at The New York Times. Tim O'Donnell