Trump 'knew exactly what was going on' in Ukraine, says Giuliani associate
Lev Parnas tells MSNBC president was fully aware of his efforts to pressure Ukrainian officials to seek dirt on Biden
Lev Parnas tells MSNBC president was fully aware of his efforts to pressure Ukrainian officials to seek dirt on Biden
Donald Trump “knew exactly what was going on” in a scheme to pressure Ukrainian officials to investigate Joe Biden, according to an associate of the president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Lev Parnas, a businessman and GOP donor who was indicted for campaign finance violations, made the explosive allegations during an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Wednesday night.
When Parnas was in Ukraine, attempting to pressure Ukrainian officials to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, he was doing so on behalf of the president and Giuliani, he said, speaking with his lawyer at his side.
“I was on the ground doing their work,” Parnas said.
Parnas also said other members of the Trump administration knew about the Ukraine pressure campaign. William Barr, the attorney general, “was basically on the team”, Parnas said.
Parnas also said other members of the Trump administration knew about the Ukraine pressure campaign. William Barr, the attorney general, “was basically on the team”, Parnas said.
And the former national security adviser John Bolton, who recently indicated he would testify in the Senate impeachment trial if he was subpoenaed, also “100%” knew about the scheme, Parnas said.
The extent of Trump’s involvement in an alleged scheme to pressure Ukrainian officials will be at the heart of the impeachment trial, which will begin next week. Trump has so far denied misconduct.
On Tuesday, House investigators released a trove of text messages, notes and other documents provided by lawyers for Parnas. The records include a letter that Giuliani sent
requesting a private meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, then Ukraine’s president-elect. The request was made with Trump’s “knowledge and consent”, Giuliani wrote.
House prosecutors are expected to present newly obtained evidence from Parnas over the course of the trial, which could unearth new evidence of misconduct by Trump.
On behalf of Giuliani, Parnas said he told a Ukrainian official that unless the administration announced an intention to investigate the Bidens, Mike Pence would not attend the Zelensky’s inauguration.
The next day, “to my awareness”, said Parnas, Trump called to inform Ukrainian officials that Pence would cancel his trip to Ukraine.
Holding back military aid to Ukraine in order to turn up the pressure was something Trump “decided to do” after officials repeatedly resisted announcing investigations into the president’s political rival, Parnas said.
Trump has insisted that he didn’t know Parnas and Igor Fruman, another Giuliani associate, who was indicted along with Parnas for making illegal campaign donations. Photos posted by Parnas to Facebook show himself and Fruman with Trump and president’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
“It’s possible I have a picture with them because I have a picture with everybody,” Trump said.
But the president “lied”, Parnas told Maddow. “Me and him didn’t watch football games together, we didn’t eat hot dogs. But he knew exactly who I was.”
But the president “lied”, Parnas told Maddow. “Me and him didn’t watch football games together, we didn’t eat hot dogs. But he knew exactly who I was.”
Parnas also said he was with Giuliani when he was on the phone with the president. At times, Giuliani took the calls on speakerphone.
Other times, the president was speaking so loudly that Parnas could overhear the dialogue even when the speaker function was turned off, he explained to Maddow.
“I want to get the truth out because I feel it’s important for the country,” Parnas said. “I think it’s important for the world to know what happened.”
Newly released text messages between Parnas and the Trump donor Robert Hyde also imply that Marie Yovanovitch, a widely respected US ambassador to Kyiv whom Trump ordered removed from her post in April, was being surveilled.
In the messages, Hyde hinted he could arrange for Yovanovitch to be removed, for a price. In light of these revelations, former diplomats and congressional Democrats have asked for an investigation into whether Yovanovitch was indeed being monitored.
Parnas said he didn’t believe Hyde was being serious, or that ambassador was ever in actual danger. Parnas had met Hyde at the Trump hotel in Washington: “He was a regular, at the bar,” he said, describing Hyde as a “weird individual”.
