PARNAS bak LEV

see BLT and 2 other nodes

1/20

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Democracy Dies in Darkness

Rachel Maddow’s first film is about Lev Parnas — and a surprise meeting

‘From Russia With Lev,’ which will air Sept. 20 on MSNBC, ends with a tearful meeting between Parnas and special guest star Hunter Biden.

The meeting between Lev Parnas and Hunter Biden came very late in the production. (rakontur)

By Jeremy Barr

September 7, 2024

In case you haven’t heard, Rachel Maddow isn’t just a cable news host anymore. Since 2022, MSNBC’s biggest star has been hosting what used to be a nightly show only on Mondays while spending the rest of her week working on podcasts, books and other projects.

On Saturday, one of her biggest efforts yet will premiere in New York: “From Russia with Lev,” a documentary produced by her company that will have its first of a limited number of theatrical screenings ahead of a Sept. 20 MSNBC airing....

The film tells the story of Lev Parnas, the Ukrainian-born businessman who is frank about his underworld connections — he’s referred to on screen as a “hustler” — who helped Rudy Giuliani in his amateurish efforts to dig up dirt about Joe Biden and his son Hunter overseas. That mission would eventually result in Donald Trump’s first impeachment, after the then-president pressed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation into the younger Biden’s tenure on the board of a Kyiv-based energy company.

Initially a Trump superfan, Parnas ultimately came to regret his role in the dirt-digging effort. He issued a mea culpa on Maddow’s show in January 2020 — a come-to-Jesus moment that happened to hit him a few months after he was indicted on a charge of campaign finance violations alongside fellow Ukrainian businessman Igor Fruman.

“When it emerged that Giuliani was in, like, a girl gang with these couple of guys from Ukraine, I kind of latched on to them as characters,” Maddow told The Washington Post.

Veteran documentarians Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman had watched Parnas’s appearance on “The Rachel Maddow Show” and hatched an idea to do a project about him for their company, rakontur. “Lev struck us as kind of the quintessential Florida Man — the schemer, dreamer-type characters that are so familiar to us in South Florida,” Spellman said.

It helped that Parnas had troves of original documentation — text messages, emails, contact lists, videos — that he allowed the filmmakers to use.

“The idea that somebody like Lev would be this close to the president of the United States and would be participating in foreign policy in the way that he was, at the level that he was, is clearly farcical, and so the fact that he had all these receipts was obviously invaluable [to us] as journalists,” Corben said.

In a twist, the film ends with a meeting between Parnas and the man he tormented, Hunter Biden, in a conference room in Los Angeles. The meeting came very late in the production. Parnas wanted to apologize to Biden in person and asked if the filmmakers wanted to tag along, even as they doubted it would ever come to fruition, particularly after Biden was convicted of three felony gun charges in June.

“I didn’t know whether Hunter Biden was going to punch him in his face or what exactly was going to transpire,” Corben said.

“It was another one of those things where it was like, ‘This can't be real,’” said Maddow, who served as the film’s executive producer. “It wasn’t until it actually happened that any of us believed it was actually going to happen.”

In the scene, Biden asks how the muckraking operation worked — “When did it cross over from being a harebrained Rudy Giuliani operation in concert with Trump to the DOJ? — and looks on with interest as Parnas lays out the whole web of subterfuge and deceit. In the end, Parnas tears up as he again offers Biden his apologies.

A newcomer to the documentary world, Maddow reviewed cuts of the film and said she played the role of both “cheerleader” and protector, working to make sure the filmmakers had the space to tell the story they wanted to tell in the way they wanted to tell it, with humor and levity.

“This is one the most lurid, stupid, traitorous political scandals in American history,” Maddow said.

Since downshifting on her hosting duties, Maddow said she has been busier than ever. She’s working on a scripted series that is far along in development, has another scripted project in the works, is working on a few other documentaries, and is starting on a book. Two of her podcasts — “Bag Man” and “Ultra” — are slated to be turned into feature films.

“My goal in making the change was to find a way to keep working, because I was at a point where both physically and mentally I was just kind of spent,” said Maddow, who has hosted her show since 2008. “The idea for me is that I’m not burning out by running in one gear all the time. I’m doing a lot of different things that are hopefully of interest to the people who like me on MSNBC and are hopefully of interest to a broader audience.”

Still, Maddow said she will be heavily involved in MSNBC’s election coverage, as she has been for other big political moments over the past few years.

“Every election is so different. This one just feels Shakespearean in terms of its historical importance to the country,” she said. “It feels like a real honor to be part of our coverage and I just want to get it right. I want to be as responsible and clear-eyed as I possibly can be.”

===

ggl news 9 24

MSNBC News

Lev Parnas tells his story, seeks redemption in new Maddow documentary, 'From Russia with Lev'

On this special edition of The 11th Hour, Rachel Maddow joins host Ali Velshi to discuss her first documentary film, "From Russia with Lev,"...

.5 days ago

Washington Post

Rachel Maddow’s first film is about Lev Parnas — and a surprise meeting

From Russia With Lev,” a Rachel Maddow documentary for MSNBC, ends with a tearful meeting between Lev Parnas and special guest star Hunter...

.3 weeks ago

Variety

Hunter Biden Attends ‘From Russia With Lev’ Screening and Q&A Featuring Rachel Maddow and Lev Parnas

Hunter Biden was in the audience at a Saturday night screening and Q&A of “From Russia with Lev.”

.1 week ago

Miami Herald

‘I was part of that cult’: In Miami, Lev Parnas discusses leaving Trumpism behind

During an appearance in Downtown Miami, Parnas slammed Trump as a threat to democracy and took credit for getting Ron DeSantis elected...

.2 weeks ago

Yahoo

Lev Parnas tells his story, seeks redemption in new Maddow documentary, 'From Russia with Lev'

On this special edition of The 11th Hour, Rachel Maddow joins host Ali Velshi to discuss her first documentary film, "From Russia with Lev,"...

.5 days ago

Mediaite

Hidden Camera Reveals Trump Calling to Fire Ambassador Based On Gossip From Lev Parnas

Lev Parnas has become an unlikely figure in domestic US politics and foreign policy — and is back in the news cycle thanks to a doc by...

.3 days ago

NBC News

Lev Parnas, ex-Giuliani associate, testified allegations against Bidens are false and 'spread by the Kremlin'

Lev Parnas slammed former President Donald Trump and his associates for pushing what he said were false allegations against the Biden family.

.Mar 20, 2024

emptywheel

Why No One Went to Prison for Rudy Giuliani’s Hunter Biden Corruption

Like many people, I've watched From Russia with Lev since it was released the other day. 'From Russia with Lev' Official Trailer.

.3 days ago

Press-Republican

Former Trump associate Lev Parnas campaigning with congressional hopeful

PLATTSBURGH — Lev Parnas, who a federal court in 2021 convicted of six counts related to arranging illegal contributions to President Donald...

.1 week ago

The Hill

Hunter Biden, Lev Parnas reconcile in emotional meeting, documentary reveals

Hunter Biden faced his one-time antagonist Lev Parnas, who was at the center of former President Trump's efforts to dig up dirt on President...

.3 weeks ago

[### How a Veteran Reporter Worked with Giuliani's Associates ...

ProPublica

https://www.propublica.org › article › how-a-veteran-re...](https://www.propublica.org/article/how-a-veteran-reporter-worked-with-giuliani-associates-to-launch-the-ukraine-conspiracy)

Oct 25, 2019 — Lev Parnas, recently indicted for foreign influence in US elections, collaborated closely with The Hill's John Solomon to fuel spurious allegations involving ...

[### Lev Parnas, ex-Giuliani associate, testified allegations ...

NBC News

https://www.nbcnews.com › politics › joe-biden › lev-p...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/lev-parnas-ex-giuliani-associate-testifies-allegations-bidens-are-fals-rcna144250)

Mar 20, 2024 — In an interview with NBC News after his testimony, Parnas argued that the impeachment inquiry hearings are "pushing the same Russian ...

[### The Hill finds John Solomon 'failed' to identify key details of ...

Politico

https://www.politico.com › news › 2020/02/19 › hill-jo...](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/19/hill-john-solomon-failed-disclose-details-115976)

Feb 19, 2020 — The Hill's news team said serious doubts about the credibility of Solomon's Ukrainian sources were evident even before his interviews with them.

[### Lev Parnas

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Lev_Parnas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Parnas)

Lev Parnas (born February 6, 1972) is a Soviet-born American businessman and former associate of Rudy Giuliani. Parnas, Giuliani, Igor Fruman, John Solomon, ...

[### Parnas calls out GOP rep at hearing for 'doing the bidding' ...

The Hill

https://thehill.com › homenews › house › 4545008-par...](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4545008-parnas-calls-out-gop-rep-hearing-doing-bidding-russia/)

Mar 20, 2024 — Lev Parnas, a convicted former aide to Rudy Giuliani, named members of Congress on Wednesday he alleged were “doing the bidding” of Russia ...

[### Written Statement of Lev Parnas, March 19, 2024

United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability - (.gov)

https://oversight.house.gov › uploads › 2024/03](https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Parnas-Lev-Written-Statement.pdf)

PDF

Mar 19, 2024 — me with a mission to travel the globe finding dirt on the Bidens so that an array of networks could spread misinformation about them.

8 pages

[### The Hill criticizes John Solomon's Ukraine columns ...

CNN

https://www.cnn.com › 2020/02/19 › media › the-hill-j...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/19/media/the-hill-john-solomon-columns-investigation-results/index.html)

Feb 19, 2020 — The Hill on Wednesday released the findings of its months-long review into the work of John Solomon, the former executive at the outlet ...

[### Lev Parnas Apologizes To Hunter Biden In Rachel Maddow’s ...

YouTube · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

402.7K+ views · 1 week ago](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLFbPhLnMT0)

[

Rachel Maddow's new documentary tells the story of one-time Trump henchman Lev Parnas and his efforts to create fake controversy for the ...

Missing: john ‎solomon

[### Lev Parnas

X · levparnas

22K+ likes · 6 months ago](https://twitter.com/levparnas/status/1772241010929680431)

The night before I was arrested, I met with Rudy Giuliani, John Solomon, Victoria Toensing, Joe deGenova at @FoxNews studio in Washington DC ...

[### Lev Parnas, ex-Giuliani associate, testifies allegations ...

NBC New York

https://www.nbcnewyork.com › national-international](https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/lev-parnas-ex-giuliani-associate-testifies-allegations-against-bidens-are-false-and-spread-by-the-kremlin/5243270/)

Mar 20, 2024 — In his opening statement, Parnas maintained there is no evidence showing that Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden were linked to corruption ...

---

mma 3 24

Fox News wants its viewers to think that one of yesterday’s witnesses at the House GOP’s impeachment hearing is untrustworthy.

But the network isn’t concerned about the one who testified from federal prison after a fraud conviction, or the one who admits to having a grievance with Hunter Biden.

No, the guy Fox wants viewers to disbelieve is the witness who told the committee that he played a key role in concocting the anti-Biden Ukrainian disinformation campaign that played out on Fox’s airwaves.

Fox has long known Lev Parnas lacked credibility, thanks to research by its own staff. But now it’s finally useful to the network’s narratives to say so.

Back in 2019, Parnas was part of a Rudy Giuliani-driven campaign to smear Joe Biden and his son Hunter as corrupt because of actions and positions the senior Biden took regarding Ukraine when he was vice president. Giuliani worked with a motley crew of Fox News staples such as conservative writer John Solomon and Republican attorneys Joe DiGenova and Victoria Toensing to launder Russian-linked disinformation into the right-wing media ecosystem. The goal was to lay the groundwork for attacking then-President Donald Trump’s most likely opponent in the 2020 presidential election.

Parnas, along with fellow Soviet-born con man Igor Fruman, worked closely with Giuliani to feed him an endless supply of lies about Joe Biden and his supposed corruption. This effort ultimately got Trump impeached for attempting to blackmail Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to announce an investigation into Biden, but it’s nonetheless most familiar now for serving as the incredibly shaky foundation of the right’s current efforts to impeach Biden.

Media Matters extensively documented the key role Fox News played in laundering this smear campaign into the media.

Giuliani’s strategy hinged on the network’s active participation. Working with con men like Parnas and other Trump cronies, he pursued an “investigation” into Ukraine that he claimed showed both Ukrainian collusion with Democrats in 2016 and evidence that Biden acted corruptly in Ukraine to benefit his son. He provided his “report” to allies in Congress to exploit while also feeding the story to conservative columnist John Solomon, who at the time worked at The Hill and dutifully reported out Giuliani’s claims in dozens of columns. During that same time period, Solomon appeared on Fox News or Fox Business at least 72 times. Fifty-one of those appearances were on Hannity alone, with host Sean Hannity weaving Solomon’s reporting into his ever-evolving conspiracy theories that “deep state” elements were out to get Trump.

Despite what played on the network’s airwaves, behind the scenes Fox News' researchers warned that Parnas and his allies’ information was not reliable. As The Daily Beast reported, “Fox News’ own research team has warned colleagues not to trust some of the network’s top commentators’ claims about Ukraine.”

According to The Daily Beast, the 162-page brief compiled by researchers for what was then known as Fox’s Brain Room “openly” questioned “Fox News contributor John Solomon’s credibility, accusing him of playing an ‘indispensable role’ in a Ukrainian ‘disinformation campaign.’”

The document also specifically called into question Parnas’ credibility, noting: “Reading the timeline in its entirety—not a small task—makes clear the extensive role played by Rudy Giuliani and his associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, in spreading disinformation.”

Indeed, when Parnas was arrested for allegedly making illegal campaign donations to Republican candidates and committees, he was at the airport, preparing to leave the country in order to facilitate an interview with disgraced Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin for none other than Sean Hannity.

Shortly after his arrest, Parnas flipped, and he has since repeatedly sought to expose the misinformation campaign he facilitated and the key players behind it. During Trump’s 2019 impeachment trial, Parnasprovided evidence about the pressure Trump allies were placing on Ukrainian officials to provide information about Biden.

With Parnas’ change in position, Fox suddenly became much more publicly skeptical of the claims he was making. And yesterday, when he testified in the latest of the House Republicans’ doomed efforts to invent a reason to impeach Joe Biden, he specifically called out Fox’s tendency to run with the dubious, unverifiable claims he had given to John Solomon:

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): At what point did the campaign to dig up dirt on Biden become a campaign to spread disinformation and lies about Biden?

LEV PARNAS: At some point when we hit a few brick walls, all of a sudden, then I saw the shift between the BLT group, which included John Solomon, the media personality, and Rudy Giuliani and other Trump lawyers, to start trying to push narratives that were — we had no, they were not validated. We had no way to validate them. Basically, a letter would come over from somebody in Ukraine, I'd hand it over to John Solomon. Next thing you knew he was on Fox TV two hours later with Sean Hannity.

Predictably, Fox has sought to discredit Parnas’ testimony by attacking his credibility.

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade complained that Parnas “went to jail for lying and is talking about Ukraine” (Parnas was convicted of wire fraud and campaign finance violations, not anything related to his work with Giuliani) and said his testimony was nothing but a “head fake” on the part of the Democrats who invited him to testify.

So-called “straight news” anchor John Roberts said of Parnas: “The credibility of a witness clearly depends on which side of the political aisle you sit, because the Democrats were happy to have Lev Parnas testify there in person. He’s been in jail for wire fraud, among other things, but Jason Galanis, who’s currently in jail, oh, he had no credibility. So, I mean, pick and choose your villains here, right?”

It's convenient how Fox suddenly develops journalistic standards when the claims Parnas is making no longer fit the network’s anti-Biden narratives.

---

===

parnas

https://www.alternet.org/desantis-2024-trump/

this Wednesday, May 24, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to officially announce his plans to enter the 2024 GOP presidential primary. Polls have been showing former President Donald Trump with considerable leads over the MAGA governor in hypothetical matchups, including 42 percent (Harvard-Harris) or 45 percent (Rasmussen). But DeSantis' supporters are hoping that the May 24 announcement will give him a badly needed boost.

When DeSantis makes his presidential run official, that will bring him intensified scrutiny from Trump as well as from Democratic strategists and President Joe Biden's reelection campaign. And one thing they may be taking a close look at, according to Reuters, is DeSantis' relationship with Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas.

Reuters reporters Aram Roston and Joseph Tanfani, in an article published on May 22, explain, "DeSantis and Parnas worked more closely together than the Republican governor has disclosed, according to a detailed account of their relationship Parnas provided to Reuters and 63 previously unreported text messages from DeSantis to Parnas between May and October 2018, as DeSantis campaigned for governor. A jury later found Parnas guilty of campaign finance crimes and other charges."

Text messages obtained by Reuters, according to Roston and Joseph Tanfani, "show that DeSantis "frequently…. appealed to fellow Floridian Parnas for introductions, advice and other fundraising help during his hotly contested campaign for governor."

"The texts also reveal thatParnas served as an intermediary between DeSantis and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who at the time, was the personal attorney of then-President Trump," the Reuters journalists explain. "In one case, 10 days before the 2018 election, DeSantis sent Parnas a text with suggested wording for a Giuliani tweet in support of his candidacy, the messages show."

===

an 2 23

During the United States' 2020 presidential race, Ukraine-born Lev Parnas was still an ally of then-President Donald Trump and his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. But that was before Russian forces, on February 24, 2022, launched a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine on orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

These days, Parnas regrets allying himself with Giuliani, Trump and the MAGA movement. And in an article published by Time on February 13, Parnas describes the role he played in Trump and Giuliani’s efforts to "undermine" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"I was used by Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in ways that helped pave the way for Putin to invade Ukraine, my native land," the 51-year-old Parnas laments. "If Trump and Giuliani's plans had worked, the Ukrainians might not have had the necessary weapons, medical equipment, and other supplies they needed to fight back."

In 2021 and 2022, Parnas was found guilty on criminal charges that ranged from fraud to illegally funneling non-U.S. money to Trump's 2020 reelection campaign. He was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison but only served four and is now confined at home.

"My connection to Trump came through Giuliani, with whom I had done business, and through the large campaign donations I had made to Trump's campaign," Parnas recalls. "Giuliani, who desperately wanted to be secretary of state, recruited me to help him further Trump's interests overseas. I had no official position, but my primary task was to be their go-between with Ukrainian and Russian oligarchs and government officials. In retrospect, I concluded that my real job was to help undermine and destabilize the Ukrainian government."

Parnas believes that Trump's disdain for Ukraine’s government and affinity for Putin was partly motivated by his animosity for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"Trump and Giuliani argued that Ukraine's leaders were corrupt and anti-American," Parnas explains, "but I believe there were other reasons Trump had it in for them.He viewed them as political enemies who had supported Hillary Clinton in 2016…. Trump acted on his hatred of Ukraine as he tried to improve his reelection chances in 2020. The plan that Giuliani and Trump put into operation was simple: Giuliani sent me to collect compromising information that the Eastern European oligarchs had on Hunter Biden's activities in Ukraine to use against Joe Biden…. Trump didn't care if this made Ukraine vulnerable to Russia."

Although Parnas supported Trump in 2020, he applauds the Biden administration for helping Ukraine militarily in 2022 and 2023.

"Trump weakened Zelensky, but fortunately, Biden won the 2020 election, and Ukraine received a steady supply of weapons," Parnas writes. "Since my arrest, I have done my best to help the people of Ukraine with charitable works, but Giuliani is still peddling his version of events. And even now, Republican politicians are campaigning to stop the pipeline of weapons and medical supplies. They are just trying to please Trump, exactly as Giuliani does. And whether they realize it or not, they are making it easier for Putin and his gang to steal everything they can from Ukraine."

Read Lev Parnas’ full Time article at this link.

===

10 21

Lev Parnas, a former henchman to Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, was found guilty on all six criminal counts leveled against him on Friday.

In a quickly rendered verdict, a jury found Parnas guilty of the most serious charge leveled against him, conspiracy to make foreign contributions to political campaigns.

Parnas was also found guilty of making false statements, falsifying records, and other crimes.

===

an 1220

Lev Parnas, a former business associate of Rudy Giuliani, made explosive allegations against outgoing Attorney General Bill Barr in a federal court filing on Tuesday. Parnas, who is under indictment for campaign finance violations and fraud charges, has accused Barr of timing his arrest last fall in order to prevent him from testifying at House impeachment hearings last fall.

The motion was filed in the Southern District of New York by attorneys for Parnas, a Ukrainian-born businessman who in 2018 and 2019 ran political errands in Ukraine on behalf of Giuliani and Trump. Parnas argues that his indictment last October was part of an intervention by Barr "to protect the President and thwart [Parnas'] potential testimony in the impeachment inquiry."

Parnas filed his complaint as reports broke that federal prosecutors in New York have discussed with Justice Department officials in Washington seeking a warrant for Giuliani's electronic communications, and, according to a person familiar with the case, at least one of the former New York mayor's cell phones. Approval from higher-ups at Justice is required before prosecutors may request a search warrant for any materials that may be protected by attorney-client privilege. It is unclear whether such approval has been granted in this case.

According to multiple reports and individuals familiar with the case, Giuliani's business dealings abroad have been part of a federal probe led by the FBI and the Southern District of New York — the very office Giuliani once led as U.S. attorney. Those investigations grew out of the arrest last October of Parnas and business partner Igor Fruman, who were detained at Dulles International Airport outside Washington as they waited to board an overseas flight. The two men were arrested just hours after meeting with Giuliani at the Trump International Hotel in Washington. According to the court filing, Giuliani was originally supposed to join Parnas and Fruman on their trip to Ukraine, but canceled earlier that day. Two other Giuliani associates also slated to make the trip had canceled a few days earlier, according to the document.

Prosecutors charged Parnas and Fruman, along with two other associates, with conspiring to make campaign donations on someone else's behalf and violating the federal prohibition on soliciting donations from foreign sources. A superseding indictment this September added fraud charges in connection with their company, Fraud Guarantee, which contracted with Giuliani to do promotional work. Giuliani has not been charged in connection with any aspect of the case. Parnas and Fruman have both pleaded not guilty.

In the new filing, Parnas lays out a series of events that he believes Barr helped engineer to secure his silence.

In late September, Parnas received a letter from House investigators asking him to preserve documents and prepare for a deposition. When Parnas told Giuliani about this, he was directed to attorney John Dowd, who had previously represented President Trump in connection with Robert Mueller's investigation of Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chair now serving time in prison. After securing the president's personal approval, Dowd took Parnas as a client.

On Oct. 8, a Tuesday, Dowd sent an email to a number of attorneys affiliated with Trump's defense team, calling the president "Boss" and promising that Dowd would "eliminate any doubt" that Parnas and Fruman would answer questions before Congress. Dowd then sent a letter to House investigators informing them that Parnas and Fruman would not appear for their scheduled deposition on Thursday, Oct. 10.

The next day, Parnas and Fruman were arrested. Two of the attorneys copied on Dowd's email were the same people who had been scheduled to fly with them to Europe. That night, Barr, who had been informed about the indictment in advance, met Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch for dinner in New York. The attorney general visited the Southern District offices the following morning on what aides described as a "routine" visit.

At the time of the arrest, however, the federal investigation into Parnas was not over, and did not in fact conclude for 11 more months, until a grand jury returned the fraud charges. It is not entirely clear why an immediate arrest was deemed necessary, although Parnas was described as a flight risk — on a trip the president's personal attorney was supposed to make with him.

Days after the arrest, Giuliani parted ways with his own attorney, Jon Sale, a prominent Miami lawyer Giuliani said he had retained for impeachment defense. Giuliani previously told Salon that Sale had been the person who first connected him with Parnas in 2018. He and Sale also shared a significant client: Venezuelan financier Alejandro Betancourt, who was under investigation in a multibillion-dollar money laundering probe and also knew Parnas.

Within a few weeks of these events, Parnas fired Dowd, after what he later described in a TV interview as a jailhouse loyalty shakedown.

"I called Dowd to come there. And I started seeing in the process of the bail stuff, the way things were going on ... I didn't feel they were trying to get me out," Parnas told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow in January. "John Dowd, instead of comforting me and trying to calm me down and telling me I'm going to be OK, he started talking to me like a drill sergeant."

"Were they telling you to sacrifice yourself to protect the president?" Maddow asked.

"That's the way I felt," Parnas replied. He dismissed Dowd along with Kevin Downing, another former Manafort attorney. In subsequent months, Parnas apparently turned over evidence to House impeachment investigators, but was never called to testify, likely because of his tarnished reputation following the arrest.

Parnas' motion seeks to convince the court to turn over numerous documents about the circumstances surrounding his investigation and arrest, as well as the investigation (or lack thereof) of other people associated with the Ukraine affair.

To make his case, Parnas must show that Barr improperly intervened in the indictment. His filing cites numerous instances of the attorney general improperly inserting himself on Trump's behalf in other legal matters, such as the cases of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone and Trump sexual-assault accuser E. Jean Carroll. Parnas must also show that he and his associates were singled out for these campaign finance violations where others involved, such as the people who actually made the donations, were not.

The court filing quotes a voicemail Giuliani left with Parnas' attorney, the second half of which was apparently captured accidentally after Giuliani forgot to hang up. In the message, Giuliani asks whether it's possible to speak with or about Parnas, and leaves his number. After a pause, according to the transcript, Giuliani can be heard telling his attorney, who apparently was also present, "That's the soon-to-be-gotten-rid-of number." The two carry on a short conversation, then the voicemail ends.

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/lev-parnas-is-afraid-of-bill-barr-he-should-be

no lnx

Lev Parnas is afraid of Bill Barr. He should be.

Written by Thom Hartmann / Independent Media Institute January 24, 2020

Lev Parnas recently told Rachel Maddow that he’s more afraid of Attorney General Bill Barr than he is of the mobbed-up foreign oligarchs he has betrayed. Barr, after all, can weaponize our prisons to punish Parnas.

“Am I scared?” he said. “Yes, because I think I’m more scared of our own Justice Department than these criminals right now.”

An attorney general willing to bend or even break the law—and certainly willing to conceal crimes and lie to the American people—can be a corrupt president’s last line of defense.

When a whistleblower in the White House reported that Trump was bribing and extorting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, that report first went to Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who thought it was evidence Trump had committed a serious crime. Atkinson deemed it an “urgent concern” and then gave it to Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire. Under the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act, Maguire was supposed to then hand it over to congressional intelligence committees. Instead, he made a pit-stop at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which handed it over to Bill Barr’s office.

Which is where it died, until ICIG Atkinson reached out to the House Intelligence Committee to let them know about Barr’s cover-up.

The whistleblower’s complaint is quite specific. “The whistleblower implicates Barr directly in the opening lines of the complaint,” Tessa Berenson wrote for Time magazine on September 26, 2019. She then quoted from the whistleblower:

“In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election. This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President’s main domestic political rivals.

“The President’s personal lawyer, Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, is a central figure in this effort.

“Attorney General Barr appears to be involved as well.”

The language the whistleblower uses calls to mind the 1972 press reports of Nixon’s Attorney General John Mitchell hiring former FBI Agent Stephen King to physically assault and mollify Mitchell’s own wife to keep her quiet about his and Nixon’s crimes. (King, now 78, was richly rewarded for his lifetime of service to the GOP in a breathtaking way by Donald Trump; more about that in a minute.)

Like Mitchell before him, Barr has long experience covering up the crimes of a corrupt Republican president. We know, because Barr has done it before.

How Barr Earned the Moniker ‘Coverup-General’

The week of Christmas, 1992, George H.W. Bush was on his way out of office. Bill Clinton had won the White House the month before, and in a few weeks would be sworn in as president.

But Bush’s biggest concern wasn’t that he’d have to leave the White House to retire back to Connecticut, Maine, or Texas (where he had mansions) but, rather, that he might end up in a federal prison. Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh was closing in fast on him, and Bush’s diary was a key to it all.

Walsh had been appointed independent counsel in 1986, to investigate the Iran-Contra crimes of the Reagan administration, and he’d already secured several convictions. The entire criminal enterprise was beginning to unravel, and the American people were watching with horror and fascination.

Did the plot start in the spring of 1980 during the Reagan vs. Carter election, as a way of having the Iranians hold the hostages long enough to humiliate President Carter and cost him the election? Did Bush campaign manager Bill Casey do it all himself, or, as with Nixon/Agnew in 1968, did the presidential candidate and his former CIA director and then-VP candidate, George H.W. Bush, participate?

The president of Iran during the hostage crisis, Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, wrote for the Christian Science Monitor in 2013 that:

“Ayatollah Khomeini and Ronald Reagan had organized a clandestine negotiation, later known as the ‘October Surprise,’ which prevented the attempts by myself and then-US President Jimmy Carter to free the hostages before the 1980 US presidential election took place. The fact that they were not released tipped the results of the election in favor of Reagan.”

Or was the Iran-Contra conspiracy limited, as Reagan and Bush insisted (and Reagan confessed on TV), to later years in the Reagan presidency, in response to a hostage-taking in Lebanon? Who knew what, and when?

Walsh had zeroed in on Iran-related documents that were in the possession of Reagan’s former defense secretary, Caspar Weinberger, who all the evidence showed was definitely in on the deal, and Bush’s diary that could corroborate it.

Weinberger was preparing to testify that Bush knew about the deal with Iran and even participated, and Walsh had already, based on information he’d obtained from the investigation into Weinberger, demanded that Bush turn over his diary from the campaign.

Bush was panicked. And he only had three more weeks of safety in office before Bill Clinton was to be sworn in.

So Bush called in his attorney general, Bill Barr, and asked his advice.

Barr was already in trouble for covering up another crime committed by Reagan and Bush a few years earlier: the selling of weapons of mass destruction to Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein, in violation of federal law. Why not double down?

On October 19, 1992, iconic New York Times columnist William Safire referred to Barr not as “Attorney General” but, instead, as “Coverup-General,” noting that Barr was already covering up for Reagan and Bush—and, apparently, himself.

Safire wrote of Barr’s unwillingness to appoint an independent counsel to look into “Iraqgate” (what the newspapers were calling the Reagan/Bush administration’s illegal sale of WMDs to Iraq):

“Why does the Coverup-General resist independent investigation? Because he knows where it may lead: to Dick Thornburgh, James Baker, Clayton Yeutter, Brent Scowcroft and himself. He vainly hopes to be able to head it off…”

Just two months later, Bush was asking Barr for advice on how to avoid a second very serious charge in the Iran-Contra crimes. How, Bush wanted to know, could they shut down Walsh’s investigation before Walsh’s lawyers got their hands on Bush’s incriminating diary that they’d subpoenaed?

The story came out almost a decade later, although few seemed to notice; politics had moved on, Barr was in private practice, and a new Bush was president.

In April of 2001, safely distant from the swirl of D.C. politics, the University of Virginia’s Miller Center was compiling oral presidential histories, and interviewed Barr about his time as AG in the Bush White House. They brought up the issue of the Weinberger pardon, and Barr’s involvement in it.

Turns out, Barr was right in the middle of it.

“There were some people arguing just for [a pardon for] Weinberger, and I said, ‘No, in for a penny, in for a pound,’” Barr told the interviewer. “I went over and told the President I thought he should not only pardon Caspar Weinberger, but while he was at it, he should pardon about five others.”

Which is exactly what George H.W. Bush did, on Christmas Eve, 1992, when most Americans weren’t checking the news. The holiday notwithstanding, the result was explosive.

Americans knew that both Reagan and Bush were up to their necks in the Iran-Contra crimes, and both could be facing prison time as a result. The independent counsel had already obtained one conviction and three guilty pleas, and two other individuals were lined up for prosecution. And Walsh was closing in fast on Bush himself, who would lose his immunity in three weeks.

So, when Bush shut the investigation down by pardoning not only Weinberger, but also the five others known to be involved in the crime, destroying Walsh’s ability to prosecute anybody, the New York Times freaked out.

The headline of a story by David Johnston ran all the way across four of the six columns on the December 25, 1992, front page of the Times, screaming in all-caps: BUSH PARDONS 6 IN IRAN AFFAIR, ABORTING A WEINBERGER TRIAL; PROSECUTOR ASSAILS ‘COVER-UP.’

Bill Barr had struck.

Johnston’s second paragraph laid it out:

“Mr. Weinberger was scheduled to stand trial on Jan. 5 on charges that he lied to Congress about his knowledge of the arms sales to Iran and efforts by other countries to help underwrite the Nicaraguan rebels, a case that was expected to focus on Mr. Weinberger’s private notes that contain references to Mr. Bush’s endorsement of the secret [weapons] shipments to Iran.” (emphasis added)

It was déjà vu all over again, as can be seen in William Safire’s coverage. Four months earlier, referring to Iraqgate, Safire opened his article, titled “Justice [Department] Corrupts Justice,” by writing:

“U.S. Attorney General William Barr, in rejecting the House Judiciary Committee’s call for a prosecutor not beholden to the Bush Administration to investigate the crimes of Iraqgate, has taken personal charge of the cover-up.”

Safire accused Barr of not only rigging the cover-up, but of being one of the criminals who could be prosecuted.

“Mr. Barr,” wrote Safire in August of 1992, “could face prosecution if it turns out that high Bush officials knew about Saddam Hussein’s perversion of our Agriculture export guarantees to finance his war machine.” He added, “They [Barr and colleagues] have a keen personal and political interest in seeing to it that the Department of Justice stays in safe, controllable Republican hands.”

In August and September of 1992, Barr had succeeded in blocking the appointment of an investigator or independent counsel to look into Iraqgate. In December, Barr helped Bush shoot down another independent counsel, Lawrence Walsh, and eliminated any risk that George H.W. Bush would be prosecuted for his Iran-Contra crimes.

Independent Counsel Walsh, wrote Johnston for the Times on Christmas Eve in 1992, “plans to review a 1986 campaign diary kept by Mr. Bush.” The diary would be the smoking gun that would nail Bush to the crimes.

“But,” noted Johnston, “in a single stroke, Mr. Bush swept away one conviction, three guilty pleas and two pending cases, virtually decapitating what was left of Mr. Walsh’s effort, which began in 1986.”

Walsh didn’t take it lying down, even though he knew the cover-up was now finalized.

Johnston noted that, “Mr. Walsh bitterly condemned the President’s action, charging that ‘the Iran-contra cover-up, which has continued for more than six years, has now been completed.’”

As Johnston reported, Walsh added that the diary and notes he wanted to enter into a public trial of Weinberger represented, “evidence of a conspiracy among the highest ranking Reagan Administration officials to lie to Congress and the American public.”

Walsh had been fighting to get those documents ever since 1986, when he was appointed and Reagan still had two years left in office. Bush’s and Weinberger’s refusal to turn them over, Johnston noted in the Times, could have, in Walsh’s words, “forestalled impeachment proceedings against President Reagan” through a “pattern of ‘deception and obstruction.’”

Barr successfully helped Bush decapitate the investigation into Bush’s crimes.

Now it appears that Barr is doing the same sort of cover-up work for Trump.

Part of a Pattern Among Republican Attorneys General

It’s amazing the power that an attorney general has, particularly when wielded by a man who thinks himself above the law and immune to public opinion.

Back in Nixon’s day, for example, Jeb Magruder told reporters Nixon had ordered his own attorney general, John Mitchell, to cover up parts of the Watergate break-in. (Magruder later went to prison for his actions.)

John Mitchell’s wife Martha learned about it and was in the process of telling United Press International reporter Helen Thomas the story over the phone when one of John Mitchell’s men burst in as she was saying, according to Thomas, “You just get away.”

Stephen King, then an ex-FBI agent whom Mitchell had assigned to watch his wife, had, according to Newsweek’s account of how veteran crime reporter Marcia Kramer heard it from Martha Mitchell, broken into the room, pulled the phone out of her hands and out of the wall, and then beat her black-and-blue and sedated her with an injection.

James McCord, who was convicted of conspiracy and burglary in the Watergate affair on behalf of Attorney General Mitchell and President Nixon, told a reporter: “Martha’s story is true—basically, the woman was kidnapped. … they kept her locked up and she began to be afraid for her life.”

Earlier, I mentioned that King would be repaid for his involvement in Mitchell’s cover-up: Today, King is the U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, a post Donald Trump appointed him to in July of 2017 and Mitch McConnell’s Senate confirmed him to on October 5, 2017.

John Mitchell went to prison for his work for Nixon, although he continued to pull political strings from inside his prison cell. There’s something about Republican attorneys general that makes this kind of rulebreaking a pattern.

Barr’s Latest Cover-Up

Even more brazen than John Mitchell, Barr may today be pushing the Justice Department to use its investigative power to punish the president’s political enemies and cover up Trump’s crimes.

First, Barr lied to the American press and public about the contents of Robert Mueller’s report on at least 10 instances of criminal obstruction of justice by Trump, and multiple efforts to collude with foreign governments to become president. Barr is still hiding grand jury testimony that many speculate could land Trump and his co-conspirators in prison.

Barr’s Justice Department conducted investigations of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation, and James Comey, and Barr had one of his prosecutors dig into the whistleblowers’ sources who spoke to Robert Mueller about Trump’s multiple attempts to collude with foreign governments, including Russia, to steal the 2016 election.

Lev Parnas, like Hitchcock’s “man who knew too much,” apparently fears that he’s going to be next and, because he actually participated in well-documented crimes at Trump’s request, he may end up with a long and particularly brutal prison term—or worse.

Barr also appears to be the key to Trump’s power at the moment. He covered up the gravity of the Muller investigation, nearly successfully hid the whistleblower’s report, and could be covering up dozens of other things that we don’t know about because… he’s covering them up.

As Parnas said to Maddow, “The difference between why Trump is so powerful now, and he wasn’t as powerful in ’16 and ’17… [is that] he became that powerful when he got William Barr.”

Democrats in the House who are considering where to next turn their investigation lens may well find a rich vein to mine in looking at Barr.

That is assuming, of course, that potential anti-Trump, anti-Barr witnesses like Parnas don’t start dying in federal custody like the man Bill Barr’s dad hired, Jeffrey Epstein. Were that to happen, congressional investigators may be left with no witnesses to interrogate.

Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of The Hidden History of the War on Voting and more than 25 other books in print. His most recent project is a science podcast called The Science Revolution. He is a writing fellow at the Independent Media Institute.

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/lev-parnass-lawyer-declared-open-war-on-ag-bill-barr-during-maddow-interview-attorney/

no lnx

Lev Parnas’s lawyer declared ‘open war’ on AG Bill Barr during Maddow interview: attorney

Written by Bob Brigham / Raw Story January 25, 2020

The attorney for Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas appears to be using a novel legal strategy, attorney Luppe Luppen explained on Friday.

Joseph Bondy, the attorney for Parnas, was interviewed Friday evening by Rachel Maddow, following the day’s end of the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

Luppen, who offers legal analysis on his popular @nycsouthpaw Twitter account, came to a conclusion that seemed to surprise him after watching the interview.

“I’ve never seen a lawyer sit on a cable panel show and make that much news,” Luppen wrote.

CNN reporter Shimon Prokupecz had a question for Luppen.

“What is the ultimate strategy here?” Prokupecz asked. “It’s clear from his interview SDNY has no interest in him. He is suggesting Fruman behind the smear campaign against Yovanovitch. I can’t see SDNY being happy with any of this.”

“I feel foolish saying it, but it seems like he’s trying to change the leadership of the Justice Department,” Luppen replied.

“Barr shouldn’t be his main concern here,” Prokupecz replied. “He should be more concerned with the career public corruption prosecutors and the tenacious public corruption FBI team in NY investigating the case.”

“I agree, but so far he’s filed a request for Barr’s recusal, orchestrated a media campaign insinuating some dark ‘conflict’ is keeping SDNY from coming to the table with him, contributed evidence to the impeachment, and openly talked about a downward departure for helping congress,” Luppen noted.

“I don’t know what else it adds up to if not basically an open war on Barr and his boss. But again, I feel a bit foolish saying so,” he added.

southpaw

@nycsouthpaw

I’ve never seen a lawyer sit on a cable panel show and make that much news.

Shimon Prokupecz

@ShimonPro

What is the ultimate strategy here? It’s clear from his interview SDNY has no interest in him. He is suggesting Fruman behind the smear campaign against Yovanovitch. I can’t see SDNY being happy with any of this.

— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) January 25, 2020

southpaw

@nycsouthpaw

Replying to @ShimonPro

I feel foolish saying it, but it seems like he’s trying to change the leadership of the Justice Department.

Shimon Prokupecz

@ShimonPro

Barr shouldn’t be his main concern here. He should be more concerned with the career public corruption prosecutors and the tenacious public corruption FBI team in NY investigating the case.

7:38 PM - Jan 24, 2020

Twitter Ads info and privacy

20 people are talking about this

Barr shouldn’t be his main concern here. He should be more concerned with the career public corruption prosecutors and the tenacious public corruption FBI team in NY investigating the case.

— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) January 25, 2020

southpaw

@nycsouthpaw

Replying to @ShimonPro

I agree, but so far he’s filed a request for Barr’s recusal, orchestrated a media campaign insinuating some dark “conflict” is keeping SDNY from coming to the table w/ him, contributed evidence to the impeachment, and openly talked about a downward departure for helping congress

southpaw

@nycsouthpaw

I don’t know what else it adds up to if not basically an open war on Barr and his boss. But again, I feel a bit foolish saying so.

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) January 25, 2020

Andrew Peng

@TheAPJournalist

?? Here’s a portion of the Parnas recording with President Trump—obtained by @ABC. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/recording-appears-capture-trump-private-dinner-ukraine-ambassador/story?id=68506437 …

Embedded video

Andrew Peng

@TheAPJournalist

Lev Parnas’ attorney Joseph Bondy reacts on @maddow to the just-released tape from @ABC

Embedded video

7:23 PM - Jan 24, 2020

Twitter Ads info and privacy

33 people are talking about this

Lev Parnas’ attorney Joseph Bondy reacts on @maddow to the just-released tape from @ABC pic.twitter.com/wrt6QcQpgd

— Andrew Peng (@TheAPJournalist) January 25, 2020

the lost boys of Ukraine: How the war abroad attracted American white supremacists

As President Trump goes through an impeachment trial in the…

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/mike-pence-denied-knowing-lev-parnas-then-his-lawyer-shared-a-video-of-them-together/

no lnx

Mike Pence denied knowing Lev Parnas — then his lawyer shared a video of them together

Written by Igor Derysh / Salon January 21, 2020

An attorney for Lev Parnas, the indicted former Rudy Guliani associate, shared a video of his client meeting Vice President Mike Pence after Pence denied knowing his client.

“Pence does indeed know the guy,” Parnas attorney Joseph Bondy wrote on Twitter as he published a 23-second clip of Parnas alongside Pence and his wife.

The video, set to the song “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire, shows Parnas holding Karen Pence’s hand before she says something to him and pats him on the back. Parnas is seen extending his hand toward Pence, apparently waiting for a handshake.

Bondy provided no details about the context of the video but added a quote from European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland’s testimony to Congress, in which he said that “everyone was in the loop” on the Ukraine scheme that led to President Donald Trump’s impeachment.

Joseph A. Bondy

@josephabondy

.@VP Mike Pence does indeed know the guy. “”Everyone was in the loop.“ -Gordon Sondland” -Lev Parnas #LevRemembers #LetLevSpeak #TheyAllKnew

Embedded video

As he urges Congress to allow Parnas to testify, Bondy has shared numerous videos, all set to catchy tunes, showing his client meeting with the president, as well as his family members, Cabinet officials and congressional allies.

Bondy published the video of Pence after the vice president denied knowing Parnas.

“I don’t know the guy,” Pence told reporters, calling Parnas’ claim that he was aware of the Ukraine scheme “completely false.”

Parnas, who was indicted on charges of illegally funneling foreign money to Republicans, told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow last week that Pence was aware of the effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.

“I’m going to use a famous quote from [Ambassador Gordon] Sondland,” he said. “Everybody was in the loop.”

Parnas told Maddow that Pence canceled his scheduled trip to attend Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inauguration after Parnas warned an aide of Zelensky that the vice president would not attend if an investigation into Biden was not announced.

“The announcement was the key at that time because of the inauguration, and I told him Pence would not show up, nobody would show up to his inauguration,” Parnas said. “It was particularly Vice President Mike Pence.”

Parnas claimed that Pence canceled the trip after Parnas spoke with Zelensky adviser Sergei Schaffer.

“It was after my phone call. The conversation that I laid out to Mr. Schafer was basically what I was told to do by Giuliani and the president,” Parnas said. “And then afterwards, I got back to them, saying he was going to get back to me later tonight.”

Parnas said that Schafer blocked his number on WhatsApp.

“I remember Rudy going, ‘OK. They’ll see.’ To my awareness, Trump called to say, ‘Make sure Pence doesn’t go [to the inauguration],'” Parnas told Maddow.

Asked if Pence canceled his trip because of the disagreement, Parnas replied, “It was, 100 percent. I know it was, 100 percent.”

Amee Vanderpool

@girlsreallyrule

Here is Lev Parnas confirming that Mike Pence knew exactly why his trip to Zelensky's inauguration was canceled and why Pence was going to Poland in place of Trump and was complicit in assisting with Trump's quid pro quo with Ukraine. #MaddowParnas

"Everybody was in the loop."

Embedded video

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham denied the allegation and called the former Giuliani associate who aided the shadow diplomacy effort in Ukraine a discredited witness.

“These allegations are being made by a man who is currently out on bail for federal crimes and is desperate to reduce his exposure to prison,” she said. “The facts haven’t changed: The president did nothing wrong and this impeachment, which was manufactured and carried out by the Democrats has been a sham from the start.”

But Jennifer Williams, Pence’s top adviser on Russia, testified to Congress that she was surprised when Pence’s trip to the inauguration was abruptly canceled and learned that the move was directed by Trump himself.

“My understanding from my colleague — and, again, I wasn’t there for the conversation — was that the president asked the vice president not to attend,” she testified.

Former Energy Secretary Rick Perry traveled to the inauguration in his stead.

Parnas told Maddow that Perry told Giuliani he would attend the inauguration and asked him what he should discuss with Zelensky. Perry told Giuliani that he got Zelensky to agree to publicly announce the investigations Giuliani had sought after the trip, Parnas claimed.

Parnas said Giuliani later “blew his lid” when Zelensky failed to mention the Bidens when he announced a wide-ranging corruption investigation.

“It wasn’t supposed to be a corruption announcement,” Parnas said. “It [had] to be about Joe Biden and Hunter Biden.”

Amee Vanderpool

@girlsreallyrule

Lev Parnas says Rick Perry played a role with Ukraine and that he and Giuliani communicated about the investigations Trump wanted and Perry was sent in to push Zelensky for the quid pro quo.

There is no doubt now that the Senate must call witnesses, including Giuliani and Perry.

Embedded video

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Parnas’ attorney said he met regularly with the “BLT Team,” a name taken from the restaurant where the group convened several times a week on the second floor of the Trump International Hotel in Washington. The BLT team included Parnas, Giuliani, Solomon, attorneys Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing, and US Rep. Devin Nunes’ chief aide.

forget if this is disambig/disaggrgate or new

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article239353658.html

Devin Nunes on Wednesday publicly acknowledged for the first time that he spoke with Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani who allegedly helped carry out President Donald Trump’s campaign to pressure the Ukrainian government for investigations that would benefit Trump’s re-election.

Nunes was first connected to Parnassix weeks ago, when a Democratic investigation published phone records showing that Nunes spoke with Parnas and with Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney. Nunes initially said he did not recall the conversation. with Parnas

This week, Nunes said in an interview on Fox News that he remembered the call.

“It was very odd, random, talked about random things. I said great, just talk to my staff, boom boom boom, which is normal, standard operating procedure.”

Nunes’ acknowledgment of the interaction coincided with Parnas’ appearance on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show. Parnas said he didn’t have much of a relationship with Nunes, although Parnas said he met with Nunes “several times” at a Trump hotel.

“He knows who I am,” Parnas said about Nunes.

Parnas said he worked with one of Nunes’ aides who was “looking into this Ukraine stuff also and wanted to help out….he had a lot of information already.”

Nunes’ office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

WHAT TRUMP WANTED FROM UKRAINE

Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, was a vigorous Trump defender at the House impeachment hearings.

The hearings centered on diplomats’ testimony that the White House withheld security assistance from Ukraine as Trump pressed Ukraine’s president to announce an investigation into business dealings carried out by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.

“I was in shock when I was watching the hearings...I text my attorney and said I can’t believe this is happening,” Parnas said. “Because they were involved in getting all this stuff on Biden.” The aide, Parnas said, had interviews with Ukrainian sources he helped arrange.

Parnas was indicted by federal prosecutors in October and charged with campaign finance violations. Prosecutors also allege that Parnas lobbied a congressman to remove the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.

Parnas turned documents over to the House Intelligence Committee this week that detail his role in pushing for Yovanovitch’s ouster. The government of Ukraine on Thursday announced thatit opened an investigation into alleged surveillance of the former ambassador.

As the Senate prepared to begin Trump’s impeachment trial Thursday, Parnas sparked a new furor, telling Maddow, “President Trump knew exactly what was going on” with all the Ukraine intrigue.

“He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn’t do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani or the president. I have no intent, I have no reason to speak to any of these officials,” Parnas said.

DEVIN NUNES ON FOX

In, aired Wednesday night, Nunes raised questions about Parnas’ credibility.

“This is someone who’s been indicted for major felonies. It’s very odd that the Democrats have been playing cat and mouse with this guy. There’s some talk that he’s after an immunity deal, trying to get the Democrats to seek immunity,” Nunes said.

Last month, a Democratic report summarizing evidence gathered during the House impeachment inquiry detailed phone records showing Nunes, R-Tulare, spoke with Giuliani and Parnas in early April.

That was around the time when a series of opinion articles by conservative journalist John Solomon raised questions about Yovanovitch and ultimately led to her dismissal.

The phone records showed Nunes had at least three calls with Giuliani and two with Parnas. Giuliani also called a member of Nunes’ staff, Derek Harvey, on May 8, and a former Nunes staffer, Kashyap “Kash” Patel, who now works on the National Security Council.

Wednesday, Fox News host Martha McCallum noted that Nunes could not recall in a previous interview speaking with Parnas.

The question “was brand-new when that had come out when I was on your show. I just didn’t know the name, this name Parnas,” Nunes said.

“What I always like to remind people is we are dealing with people every day,” he said. “We’re an oversight committee. So we have incoming calls that come to my office, to my cell phone et cetera et cetera and then you know now that he had called my cell phone and I didn’t know his name,” Nunes said.

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