“We have always stated that we agreed to represent Ukrainian whistle-blowers,” Mark Corallo, a representative for the law firm of Ms. Toensing and Mr. diGenova, said in a statement on Wednesday. Mr. Corallo said the business proposals were “unaccepted” and the lawyers never represented the Ukrainians. “No money was ever received and no legal work was ever performed,” he said.
In another agreement signed by Ms. Toensing in April, the client would have been Victor Shokin, the top Ukrainian prosecutor before Mr. Lutsenko. Mr. Shokin was ousted after critics, among them Mr. Biden, said he was soft on corruption.
Mr. Shokin did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Shokin had also spoken with Mr. Giuliani and his associates in January, via Skype. In the call, Mr. Shokin asserted that American officials applied pressure on the Ukrainian government to kill an investigation of Burisma, and that he was fired after Mr. Biden accused the prosecutor of being corrupt, according to a memo summarizing the discussion.
Ms. Toensing proposed that, for $25,000 a month, her firm would represent Mr. Shokin “for the purpose of collecting evidence regarding his March 2016 firing as Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the role of then-Vice President Joe Biden in such firing, and presenting such evidence to U.S. and foreign authorities.”
The news of Mr. Giuliani’s efforts comes a day after Mr. Trump appeared to distance himself from Mr. Giuliani. In an interview on Tuesday, the former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly asked Mr. Trump if he had directed Mr. Giuliani in his Ukraine efforts. “No, I didn’t direct him, but he is a warrior, he is a warrior,” Mr. Trump said.
When asked what work Mr. Giuliani was doing for him related to Ukraine, Mr. Trump replied, “You have to ask that to Rudy.”
Andrew E. Kramer, Maggie Haberman and Ken Vogel contributed reporting. Maria Varenikova contributed reporting from Kyiv.