IS GIULIANI’S ASSOCIATE, LEV PARNAS, JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG?

…Lev Parnas, with the president and Rudy Giuliani

Parnas and lots of documents makes him have serious credibility

The House of Representatives newly appointed Impeachment Managers went through the historic ritual of physically walking the Articles of Impeachment over to the US Senate.  It was done just as it was for Bill Clinton in 1998 and for Andrew Johnson in 1868.  It would have also been the same for Richard Nixon, if he hadn’t resigned before he could be impeached.

It is not getting any easier for the president, as many documents and text messages were released by House Democrats this week showing how Lev Parnas, a former associate of the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, used his access to President Trump’s world to help with Giuliani’s former Ukraine campaign.

Hundreds of pages of photos, messages and calendar entries show Parnas enlisted a top official at the pro-Trump super Political Action Committee, America First Action, for assisting in promoting media coverage.  Parnas helped arrange and he attended functions with Republican congressmen and even Trump family members.  A calendar entry shows Parnas had a scheduled breakfast with Trump in New York on Sept. 26, right  after the public revelation of the whistleblower complaint about a call the president had with Ukrainian’s new president..

The new materials were made public by the House Intelligence Committee and they follow an initial stack of documents just released that showed Parnas directly involved with Giuliani’s efforts to get the Ukrainian president to announce investigations of former vice president Joe Biden.

In Lev Parnas’ recent interview with MSNBC’s Rachael Maddow, he stated the following: “President Trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn’t do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani, or the president.”

Yes, Parnas is out of jail on bail, as he has been charged with federal crimes.  But he has agreed to assist in his case as the latest group of documents is being delivered, and as the Senate prepares to begin its impeachment trial of President Trump next week.

In a text message to The Washington Post, Rudy Giuliani suggested that Parnas was not being truthful, but he declined to offer and specifics or details.

“Who cares? Believe him at your peril,” he said, adding: “We all make mistakes. I feel sorry for him and his family.”

The new material indicates that Parnas played a central role in arranging an interview with a Ukrainian prosecutor who falsely claimed there was a plot in his country to help Hillary Clinton. Parnas had apparently urged a senior contact at the America First Action PAC to get Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. to re-tweet the claim.  Links to stories about Ukraine that Parnas were sent to America First Action finance director Joseph Ahearn and were tweeted by both the president and Trump Jr., the new material shows.

The lawyer for Trump Jr., Alan Futerfas, declined to comment on the newly released documents, as did Kelly Sadler, a spokeswoman for America First Action.  As expected, the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The documents include a May 9, 2018, letter to Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo from then Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) calling for Yovanovitch to be removed. “I have received notice of concrete evidence from close companions that Ambassador Yovanovitch has spoken privately and repeatedly about her disdain for the current administration,” Sessions wrote.

In February 2019, lawyer Victoria Toensing, a longtime Giuliani ally involved in his Ukraine efforts, asked the former New York mayor in a message, “Is there absolute commitment for HER to be gone this week?”  Giuliani responded, “Yes, not sure how absolute. Will get a reading in morning and call you. Pompeii [sic] is now aware of it. Talked to him on Friday.”

Of course, Toensing declined to comment and Giuliani did not respond to a request for comment about the exchange.

In a May message to Ahearn, Parnas wrote, “It’s more important than ever to get a good ambassador that’s loyal to our president in there, please make sure you pass on the message every ear more important than ever.”

In his MSNBC interview Wednesday, Parnas apologized to Yovanovitch, saying he now believes he was wrong about her.

The new materials released by House Democrats also include months of messages between Parnas and then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko in which the Ukrainian official provided Giuliani’s team with interviews and information in exchange for a pledge that Yovanovitch would be removed from her post.

The messages show Parnas helping arrange a video interview for Lutsenko with John Solomon, a conservative columnist at The Hill newspaper.  On March 12, Parnas sent a letter from Solomon to Lutsenko requesting the interview and included a list of questions to be addressed. “I sent you the questions and the invitation from the journalist, call me when you wake up,” Parnas writes after sending the letter to Lutsenko.

After the interview posted online, Parnas texted it to Ahearn and wrote, “Have to retweet it.” “Sent,” Ahearn responded.  Parnas then urged Ahearn to “Watch Hannity.”

Later that night, Trump himself tweeted coverage of the story by the Fox News', Sean Hannity.

Several days later, Parnas sent Ahearn an article about calls to push out Yovanovitch, to which Ahearn responded, “That’s a good article.”

That same day, Trump Jr. tweeted out the article and wrote that the United States needed “less of these jokes as ambassadors,” referring to Yovanovitch, a highly accomplished career diplomat.

The relationship between Parnas and Lutsenko turned sour over the months of text messages in Russian.

At one point in March, Lutsenko appeared to have grown impatient that he was holding up his end of the bargain, while Parnas was failing to come through with the ambassador’s removal and other requests that would benefit Lutsenko or his boss, then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

“I’m sorry, but this is all simply bullsxxt,” Lutsenko wrote on March 13. “I’m f-----g sick of all this. I haven’t received a visit. My [boss] hasn’t received jack all. I’m prepared to [thrash] your opponent. But you want more and more. We’re over.”

Another group of messages shows Parnas and Giuliani in February 2019 discussing possibly signing a “retainer” with the Ukrainian Justice Ministry, appearing to reinforce reporting that Trump’s personal lawyer was in advanced discussions to represent that government.

The Post reported last year that Giuliani had negotiated to represent Ukraine’s top prosecutor for at least $200,000 as he was hunting for damaging material about Biden from Ukrainian sources. At the time, Giuliani wrote on Twitter that he “did NOT pursue a business opportunity in Ukraine” and that he was “paid ZERO.”

In the newly released messages, Parnas wrote to Giuliani: “This is who the retainer should be made out to: ministry of justice of Ukraine Att: minster Pavlo Petrenko.”

“How much?” Giuliani responded. Giuliani then said he would follow up with a call, and the messages suggest he sent an agreement to Parnas, who agreed to “print it out and deliver it.”

Later, Parnas asked Giuliani to send wire instructions and requested a copy signed by Giuliani and “Victoria and joe” so the contract can be execute.  That is an apparent reference to Toensing and her husband, Joe diGenova.

“Can do that tomorrow,” Giuliani replied.

The next day, Parnas wrote, “I received signed retainer.”

All this shows that as we know, Donald Trump lies, and now we know that anyone that works for him also lies.

Copyright G. Ater 2020