Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani (R) with Giuliani’s indicted business associates Lev Parnas (2nd from L) and Igor Fruman (L) (Miami Herald)
A key player in the Trump-Ukraine affair implicates Donald Trump as the leader of the effort for investigation of his political rivals, as the House formally sends impeachment charges to the Senate for Trump’s trial.
Lev Parnas, the now-indicted businsss associate of Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, spoke at length on Wednesday night about the 10-month Trump-Giuliani campaign — in which Parnas was a central figure — for the investigations to tarnish Presidential candidate Joe Biden and to cover up Russia’s involvement in the 2016 US election.
Parnas said:
President Trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all of his movements. I wouldn’t do anything without the consent of President Trump or Rudy Giuliani….I was on the ground doing their work….
I am betting my whole life that Trump knew exactly everything that was going on that Rudy Giuliani was doing in Ukraine.
Parnas said while he did not speak with Trump directly about the efforts in Ukraine, he met Trump on several occasions — including on the golf course alongside Giuliani — and was assured by the attorney that Trump was fully informed of developments. For example, Trump intervened to back Giuliani’s attempt to obtain a visa for a former Ukrainian official who was spreading corruption allegations against Biden.
Asked by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow about Trump’s assertion that he did not know Parnas or his colleague Igor Fruman, also involved in the Ukraine affair and also now indicted on campaign finance violations, Parnas replied:
He lied.
“I Thought I Was Helping the President”
Courts finally allowed Parnas’ documents, including e-mails and texts, to be handed to House Democrats this month. On Tuesday, scores of pages testified to the extent of the Trump-Giuliani effort — including the effort to discredit and remove US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch — to get the announcement of the investigations.
See also TrumpWatch, Day 1,090: More Evidence on Trump-Giuliani Pressure v. Ukraine
Yesterday Parnas spoke with outlets such as The New York Times and MSNBC’s Maddow, expressing regret for trusting Trump and Giuliani and eagerness to cooperate with federal prosecutors investigating Trump’s attorney.
Further material released on Wednesday showed Parnas’s contact with Trump donors and fundraisers such as Tom Hicks Jr. and Joseph Ahearn about the Ukraine pressure campaign. Exchanges included the disinformation efforts against Biden, Yovanovitch, and Ukrainians who challenged Paul Manafort, Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman who is now serving a 7 1/2-year prison sentence for financial crimes.
Parnas said:
I thought I was being a patriot and helping the president….I thought by listening to the president and his attorney that I couldn’t possibly get in trouble or do anything wrong.
He also implicated other Administration officials, notably Attorney General William Barr, in knowledge of and support for the Trump-Giuliani campaign: “William Barr was basically on the team.”
Parnas also said Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, “wanted to help out” the campaign.
Senate Trial to Open as McConnell Tries to Block Witnesses
The latest evidence and testimony comes as Senate Majority Mitch McConnell, abandoning the Constitutional obligation of impartiality and working with the White House, is trying to block any witnesses or documents in Trump’s trial.
See also TrumpWatch, Day 1,086: Pelosi to Send Articles of Trump’s Impeachment to Senate
On Wednesday, the House formally voted to transmit the impeachment charges to the Senate, with the Democrats naming the managers — effectively the prosecutors — of the trial.
That triggered the start of the Senate process on Thursday, with Chief Justice John Roberts arriving to preside and Senators sworn in.
The showdown over witnesses is likely to come next Tuesday when the Senate votes on the rules for the trial. If four of the 53 Republicans defy McConnell and join the 47 Democrats, then the witnesses will be allowed.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is seeking testimony from four witnesses with first-hand knowledge of the Trump-Giuliani campaign, including Trump’s freezing of security assistance to Ukraine until investigations were announced. They are former National Security Advisor John Bolton, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Mulvaney’s chief aide Robert Blair, and Michael Duffey, the top political appointee in the Office of Management and Budget.
Bolton said last week that he will testify if summoned. On White House orders, the other three officials refused to comply with House subpoenas, leading to the charge of obstruction of justice against Trump.
“Officially Part of Team Trump”
Facing the evidence bypassing the blockade of witnesses, Giuliani lashed out via text that it was “sad to watch how the Trump haters are using” Parnas and said his former associate was “a proven liar” seeking attention.
But Parnas supported his account with documents attesting to the extent of the Trump-Giuliani campaign and his role in it.
As the campaign’s disinformation against Biden spread through pro-Trump media in late March, Parnas texted an associate, “I’m officially part of Team Trump.”
Other texts showed Parnas communicating with Trump’s donors Hicks and Ahearn about the effort to smear Yovanovitch, a leading advocate of anti-corruption efforts. She was finally recalled to Washington by Trump in late April, just after the election of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Three months later, Trump called Zelenskiy seeking the investigations — a conversation that would lead to a formal complaint, by the CIA liasion with the White House over Ukraine, and the House impeachment hearings.