Tag: Lev Parnas

Lev Parnas Steps Back From Texts Alleging Surveillance Of U.S. Ambassador In Ukraine

A lawyer for former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch is calling for an investigation after materials released Tuesday night as part of the impeachment inquiry suggested she was under surveillance by individuals linked to President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

That detail was among a trove of documents provided by Giuliani associate Lev Parnas that were made public by the House Intelligence Committee late Tuesday. The House impeached Trump last month for abuse of office and obstruction of Congress, and lawmakers delivered articles to the Senate Wednesday, where a trial is likely to open next week.

The records provided by Parnas, who has been indicted in New York for alleged campaign finance violations, add to the evidence already released documenting Giuliani’s efforts to get the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to publicly announce an investigation related to former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who had ties to a Ukrainian energy company.  Continue reading.

Former White House official drops the hammer on Mike Pompeo after ‘two-bit criminals’ stalked Ukraine ambassador

AlterNet logoAddressing a House document dump that provided more evidence in Donald Trump’s still-growing Ukraine scandal, a former White House official claimed on CNN that to all appearances White House foreign policy has been being conducted by “two-bit mobsters.”

“New Day” hosts John Berman and Alisyn Camerota skipped over Tuesday night’s Democratic debate to point to notes and texts from Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas that indicated that former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was being stalked with hints of personal threats.

“These new text messages were provided to Congress by Giuliani’s foreign associate Lev Parnas,” host Camerota explained. “To dig up dirt on the Bidens and to take down Marie Yovanovitch. The materials include this letter to Ukraine’s president, and in it Giuliani requested a meeting indicating he is working with the U.S. president’s knowledge and consent. That this is the first where Giuliani links efforts to President Trump. There is also this note in Vienna that mentions to get Zelensky to announce an investigation of the Bidens.” Continue reading.

With an impeachment trial looming, new evidence that Trump sought personal benefit in Ukraine

Washington Post logoIf one were simply to read the transcript, as President Trump has insisted we do, the point made obvious in new documents released by the House Intelligence Committee would be apparent.

In that transcript — the rough transcript of the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — Trump cajoles his counterpart to start investigations focused on former vice president Joe Biden and an unfounded theory about Ukrainian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Zelensky agrees to the probes with alacrity, in part, no doubt, because it had already been made clear to his team that agreement was a necessary criterion for a much-sought meeting with Trump at the White House. To move the probes forward, Trump then suggests that Zelensky work with two people: Attorney General William P. Barr, head of the Justice Department — and Rudolph W. Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney.

The inclusion of Giuliani in the conversation has long made it hard for Trump to argue that he was seeking Zelensky’s aid only insofar as it would benefit the United States generally. When he asked Zelensky to “do us a favor,” he has argued, he meant “us” as in the United States. That he then suggested Zelensky work with Giuliani, who is not an employee of the United States, and that his request in that specific case focused on his efforts to undermine the investigation into Russian interference that he saw as a cloud over his presidency make it particularly hard to take Trump’s claims at face value. Continue reading.

House Dems release new impeachment evidence related to indicted Giuliani associate

It also includes a previously undisclosed May 2019 letter from Giuliani to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The House Intelligence Committee released new evidence on Tuesday related to the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, including information turned over by Lev Parnas, an indicted former associate of Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

The release, which reflects the unfinished nature of the House’s impeachment inquiry, comes ahead of an expected House vote on Wednesday to formally send the impeachment articles to the Senate for a trial.

“Despite unprecedented obstruction by the president, the committee continues to receive and review potentially relevant evidence and will make supplemental transmittals,” Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wroteTuesday to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), whose panel is responsible for compiling the complete record of the investigation ahead of the Senate’s trial. Continue reading. Continue reading.

Parnas Lawyer Delivers Documents To House Intelligence Committee

On Monday, attorney Joseph A. Bondy made an announcement concerning his client, Lev Parnas — an associate of Rudy Giuliani (President Donald Trump’s personal attorney and former mayor of New York City) who is facing federal campaign finance charges: Parnas-related communications, Bondy announced, have been handed over to Rep. Adam Schiff and the House Intelligence Committee, which Schiff chairs.

The communications, according to Law & Crime reporter Matt Naham, include text messages, WhatsApp messages and photos.

On Twitter, Bondy announced, “After our trip to DC, we worked through the night providing a trove of Lev Parnas’ WhatsApp messages, text messages & images — not under protective order — to #HPSCI, detailing interactions with a number of individuals relevant to the impeachment inquiry.” Continue reading.

Giuliani associate can give impeachment investigators phone data, documents seized by prosecutors, judge says

Washington Post logoNEW YORK — A federal judge in Manhattan ruled Friday that an indicted associate of President Trump’s personal attorney can provide Congress with evidence in his criminal case that is of interest to impeachment investigators.

U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken granted an application from an attorney for Lev Parnas seeking permission to give lawmakers access to phone data and documents seized by federal prosecutors after his October arrest. The House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed the materials as part of its impeachment inquiry, according to Parnas attorney Joseph Bondy.

The materials are expected to include documents taken from Parnas’s Florida home, along with a complete readout of his iPhone. Bondy has said there is relevant information contained in the materials, though he has not disclosed specifically what that might be.

Giuliani associate denies hiding Russian payment, asks to stay free on bail

NEW YORK (Reuters) – An associate of U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Monday urged a judge to let him stay free on bail while he awaits trial, denying prosecutors’ accusations that he lied about receiving a $1 million payment from Russia shortly before he was arrested.

A lawyer for Lev Parnas, who is charged with campaign finance crimes, said the payment was a loan to Parnas’ wife, and that it had been disclosed to authorities before his bail was set.

“At no time did Mr. Parnas make a knowingly false statement,” Parnas’ lawyer, Joseph Bondy, said in a filing in Manhattan federal court.

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Report: Trump’s Ukraine Extortion Scheme Was Financed by Russians

President Trump is facing impeachment primarily for abusing his power for political gain, extorting a foreign country to discredit his political rivals. The secondary aspect of the plot is that the target of his extortion is hardly random. Ukraine is the victim of Russian aggression, and Russia’s continuing incursions into Ukrainian territory is the muscle that gave Trump’s threats leverage. Trump’s domestic interests are one intended beneficiary of his scheme. The other is Vladimir Putin.

Trump and his allies insist he has actually pursued a hawkish line in Ukraine. “Mr. Trump didn’t withhold military aid to Ukraine, and even if he had he would have merely been returning to Barack Obama’s policy of denying lethal aid,” argues a Wall Street Journal editorial. “No one has done more to limit Russia’s ability to engage in mischief than President Trump,” insists Representative Matt Gaetz in a Fox News segment retweeted by the president. Continue reading “Report: Trump’s Ukraine Extortion Scheme Was Financed by Russians”

Lev Parnas Concealed A $1 Million Payment From Russia, Prosecutors Say

New York prosecutors asked a judge to detain the Rudy Giuliani associate, arguing that he lied to the government about his income and is a flight risk.

Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, received a $1 million payment from Russia a month before he was charged with conspiring to funnel foreign money into Republican campaigns in the United States, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Prosecutors for the U.S. Southern District of New York asked a federal judge to detain Parnas without bail, arguing that he lied to the government about his income and assets and could potentially flee the country.

“Parnas failed to disclose, in describing his income to the Government and Pretrial Services, the fact that in September 2019, he received $1 million from a bank account in Russia into Account-1,” prosecutors wrote in its court filing. “While the majority of that money appears to have been used on personal expenses and to purchase a home, as discussed below, some portion of that money existed in Account-1 at the time Parnas submitted his financial affidavit.”

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Lev Parnas gave House Intelligence recordings of Trump and Giuliani: report

AlterNet logoAs Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives move closer to considering which articles of impeachment could be used against President Donald Trump, one GOP name that continues to come up in connection with the impeachment inquiry is Rudy Giuliani — Trump’s personal attorney, former mayor of New York City, and a strong proponent of the Ukrainian government investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. And the House Intelligence Committee, according to ABC News, is in possession of audio and video recordings as well as photos that include both Giuliani and Trump and could be relevant to the House’s impeachment inquiry.

The recordings and photos were obtained because of a House subpoena of Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, who was recently arrested — along with fellow Giuliani associate Igor Fruman — on campaign finance charges. Federal prosecutors allege that Parnas and Fruman illegally  funneled foreign donations to political candidates in the United States, and both of them have pled “not guilty.” Continue reading “Lev Parnas gave House Intelligence recordings of Trump and Giuliani: report”