Will Lev Parnas Throw Himself on the Giuliani Hand Grenade
Will Arms-for-Dirt-gate signal the death of political selfies. In a week of public testimony, more details emerge in the continuing backstory for the Trumpeachment. The latest counter-propaganda is a Nikki Haley interview trying to make John Kelly and Rex Tillerson into honorary “amigos”.
Lev Parnas says he told Ukrainian officials in May that unless they investigated Biden, Pence wouldn’t attend Zelensky’s swearing-in AND aid would be frozen. Giuliani’s current defense is, “I never told him to say that.” https://t.co/p4U1KFZvOF
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) November 10, 2019
GIULIANI CRONY LEV PARNAS IS GOING FULL KAMIKAZE ON UKRAINE
Spurned by Trump, Parnas now says he personally offered a quid-pro-quo ultimatum to the incoming Ukrainian government.
Parnas, however, reportedly had a change of heart after being spurned by Trump who, despite having met the failed businessman-turned-Trump enthusiast several times, claimed not to know him: “I don’t know them,” the president told reporters after the arrest of Parnas and Fruman, who helped Giuliani pursue his Ukraine-related conspiracy theories. “I don’t know about them. I don’t know what they do.” Parnas was “very upset” about the disavowal, his lawyer, Joseph Bondy, said this month. Betrayed by his former hero, Parnas is now willing to cooperate with investigators, according to Bondy, who challenged Shefir’s denial in an interview with the Times. “It would simply defy reason for Mr. Shefir to have attended a meeting with Mr. Parnas if he did not believe Mr. Parnas spoke for the president, and also for Mr. Parnas not to have conveyed the president’s message at the meeting,” Bondy said.
Trump, of course, has a long history of denying that he knows people he clearly does know once their acquaintance becomes inconvenient. In this case, his stonewalling could come back to haunt him, with a guy previously in his corner now flipping on him and his embattled personal attorney. What ultimately comes of Parnas’s account remains to be seen—Republicans, who are wholeheartedly defending Trump, may dismiss his claims as sour grapes. But if his story is corroborated, it would serve as further confirmation of Trump and Giuliani’s corrupt behind-the-scenes maneuvering.
Rudy Giuliani was overheard in a restaurant discussing his plans to launch a podcast about the impeachment of Donald Trump.
https://t.co/5QAZyHN0Aa via @politicususa
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) November 11, 2019
https://twitter.com/Otpor17/status/1193995841582829579?
Did you catch Rachel Maddow tonight? Per Ukraine Amb Yovanovich's deposition released today, she stood in the way of Lev, Igor & Donald replacing the new head of the Ukraine natural gas utility whose anti-corruption moves had cut Russian imports of gas from 93% to zero #PutinWins
— Cynthia (@Cyninbend) November 5, 2019
