Three weeks ago Rudy went on ABC and waved around an affidavit recently “made at the request of lawyers for Dmitry Firtash”. Giuliani’s close associates Toensing and DiGenova are Firtash’s lawyers. They got the job thru Rudy’s assistant Lev Parnas, who did translation for them.
.@AshaRangappa_’s point applies here too. Trumpworld lawyers worked with Firtash to produce Shokin’s affidavit, but Rudy’s been claiming he had nothing to do with it. They laundered the affidavit thru Toensing and diGenova.
@AshaRangappa_ Giuliani helped Toensing and diGenova push bogus Ukraine stories in the media. Behind the scenes, Giuliani was referring Ukrainian clients to them - including at least one of the corrupt ex-prosecutors.
abcnews.go.com/Politics/giuli…
abcnews.go.com/Politics/giuli…
@AshaRangappa_ When Parnas referred Firtash to T&G, it was part of that pattern. Then Firtash had one of the same disgraced ex-prosecutors produce an affidavit with the same bogus stories Rudy, T&G had been pushing.
And Rudy acts like it’s independent corroborating evidence. Black propaganda.
And Rudy acts like it’s independent corroborating evidence. Black propaganda.
@AshaRangappa_ As far as I can tell, Giuliani’s been vague about how exactly he got the affidavits. But he lied about how old the Shokin one was, and he lied and dissembled about his connection to its funder Firtash.
And it gets worse…
And it gets worse…
One of the Shokin affidavit’s key statements is backed up by a footnote citing an American blog post. And if you go to the blog post, it backs it up with an article by… now-infamous Ukrainegate collaborator John Solomon.
theintercept.com/2019/10/17/ukr…
theintercept.com/2019/10/17/ukr…
So Trump’s legal team gets Solomon to print a falsehood. They get Shokin to repeat it in an affidavit. They get Firtash to commission the affidavit. They arrange for T&G to represent Firtash. They use the affidavit in press appearances. And they hide all the connections.
It gets worse. Trump is using the affidavit in campaign ads. I’m guessing the voiceover doesn’t mention it was produced in collaboration with a Manafort-linked, Putin-linked oligarch trying to avoid extradition.
theintercept.com/2019/10/17/ukr…
theintercept.com/2019/10/17/ukr…
As @emptywheel put it, “the President and his current lawyer are in some kind of JDA from hell with the Russian mob”. And their arrangement includes the production of propaganda material meant to influence the 2020 election.
@emptywheel Last night I called Toensing and diGenova “T&G”. Dying for an edit button. T&D.
