Thread by @SethAbramson

(THREAD) This thread catalogs all key content in the 83-minute video Fruman secretly made—and Parnas transmitted to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence—of an intimate April 2018 dinner at a Trump hotel in which Trump discusses Ukraine. I hope you'll RETWEET this.

NOTE: NBC News now has the video, as does ABC News—the first to get it, actually—as does (by now) basically *everyone*. I'm using the PBS link below, for those who want to follow along. I will try to give time signatures for the key content as I detail it. pbs.org/newshour/natio…

1:00 / The first minute reveals a beautifully outfitted table with 14 place settings in a room with a hallway running off it. Looking down the hallway, we see Trump and what looks to be his son Don posing with people for photos. At the table, Trump is to be seated next to Don Jr.

1:00 / Trump isn't in the room yet, but the guests are discussing where they're from—including one from Palm Beach (FL) and one from Columbus (OH). A person says they own a country club. Parnas films the table; someone says to him, "Some people may not want their pictures taken."

1:00 / To clarify, I hear Parnas' voice, but it may be Igor's phone that is filming. Parnas speaks English, as we all know; so does Igor, but not nearly as well.

2:30 / Trump comes in and gets applause. Everyone is apparently standing behind their assigned seats. We get a very good look at a man next to Trump, but I don't recognize him yet. I'll mention his name when/as I figure it out. It's *not* Igor, Lev, Don Jr., or Johnny DeStefano.

2:30 / Don is sitting to Trump's left, and the man we get a good look at is to his right. Again, I'll offer an ID once I have it, or if you want to go to this part of the video and help with an ID, please do. I assume this is someone connected to the "America First Action" group.

3:00 / Here (top) is the man to Trump's right, then ("below" him in this rotated picture) is the man sitting to the right of that man. All of these people are federal witnesses now and should in some fashion be interviewed or deposed.

3:00 / Here's the man sitting two people to Trump's right.

3:00 / So yes, Igor appears to be filming, as at 2:00 in the video he is standing behind his assigned chair as everyone else is doing the same.

3:00 / At 2:45, Trump compliments someone on their "Jack Nickalaus genes," and the Washington Post confirms that one of the attendees is Jack Nickalaus III. washingtonpost.com/politics/at-do…

3:00 / This appears to be the man sitting to Don Jr.'s left. I believe it's Johnny DeStefano—a Trump political adviser who we know is at the table (and the faces match). So we have a majority of the people at the table shown now—three people plus Lev, Igor, Trump, Don, DeStefano.

4:00 / A *ton* of golf talk. Jesus... {*yawn*}

4:00 / I'd been assuming Giuliani was there, but no one was reporting it (and Parnas and Fruman weren't—we're told—"officially" working for Giuliani as part of Trump's legal team yet). But—breaking news!—a White House spokesperson says Giuliani was there.

https://twitter.com/stevenportnoy/status/1221502357332283392

4:00 / Note that Giuliani says he wasn't there, and we don't have confirmation he was. It'd make sense for him to be—even though Lev and Igor weren't yet working for him as part of Trump's legal team—but a reader says Lev's attorney (Bondy) denies Rudy was there, so we'll see.

4:30 / Trump is simultaneously bragging about his polls and complaining about his media coverage, which I assume is one of the few things he does as often as talk about golf. {*yawn*}

5:00 / They actually *applaud* Trump for having been elected, as Trump reminisces about Election Day.

This is in April 2018... over *15 months* post-election.

5:30 / Trump is talking about North Korea and China. We know some of what he's telling these donors about U.S. foreign policy is non-public info, as he prefaces his comments by saying "this is off the record." (They're not journalists.) Great national security consciousness here.

7:00 / Trump is engaging and sounds relaxed. Someone who works for or runs the "largest steel consumer in the country" is in the room, and tries to talk a bit, but Trump cuts him off to try to get him to say his policies are helping the country. You can smell Trump's impatience.

8:00 / Amazing how much these donors talk, given that they *must* realize Trump only wants to hear himself talk and is barely listening to them.

8:30 / Trump is saying he can't believe America fought the Korean War or was involved on the Korean peninsula at all.

9:00 / Much hilarity and laughing about how stupid it was to fight the Korean War.

U.S. death toll in the Korean War: 33,686.

*Hilarious*.

10:00 / Trump says the Korean War was a pointless effort to deal with "these two places" (North/South Korea). Note that he ties his trade talk to his foreign policy—his foreign policy is *always* about money, not lives. Trump is asking for the donors' advice on his Korea policy.

11:00 / These donors clearly feel they've bought access not just to Trump but his policy-making. This one "purchaser of steel" sounds like he's directly telling Trump what he should do to make him—the purchaser—happy, which you better believe has little to do with anyone but him.

11:30 / Trump occasionally asks questions, but they're all designed to get people to react to his decisions as president—he's soliciting praise and confirmation of his existing choices/biases. Then he returns to filibustering the room. A donor is trying to get a word in edgewise.

13:00 / Hard to explain exactly what I'm listening to here. These folks may be eating, but this is a *hardcore lobbying session* in which the attendees—certainly this one steel purchaser—are trying to sway the president to take actions that benefit them/their business personally.

14:00 / Trump is noncommittal—it's not clear he's listening to anyone. He just wants to expound his opinions as they seek to say something that will land with him. A woman has just begun speaking—which means a new person at the table not previously registered (they were all men).

14:30 / The woman is trying to find out what Trump will do next on China and the WTO, which I'm *sure* would never be used by her or *anyone at this table* for any sort of insider trading. *Totally sure*.

Trump is criticizing Clinton on China/the WTO and Bush on the Middle East.

15:30 / Trump's way of talking foreign policy is...insane? On the Middle East, he begins by saying, "We're into the Middle East right now for $7 trillion...that's over 18 years." I mean, I get it—*money*—but you've no sense this man has ever seen anything any way but financially.

16:30 / Did you doubt Trump wants the European Union *destroyed*—just like Putin does? Don't. Because he calls the EU "a weapon to hurt the United States, to allow people to enrich themselves....it's a group of countries that got together to screw the United States." Scary stuff.

17:00 / "It's really bad. The European Union doesn't *sound* like it [i.e. bad]...I mean, we're all sort of from there." Uh...what? Is this his understanding of America? Everyone's from Europe? The woman tries to defend the EU; Trump says they're "worse than China with barriers."

17:00 / Trump: "The EU's brutal, but we're changing that rapidly. They can't even believe it. So we're having fun." Now he's complaining about his own advisers and their advice to him on the economy... which he is clearly ignoring and proud of it. It appears he listens to no one.

18:00 / Trump appears to hate.... everything? NAFTA was terrible. The WTO is terrible. Every trade deal Clinton did was terrible. The EU is terrible. China is terrible. The Korean War was terrible. Eventually you figure it out: anything *he didn't do himself* is terrible. Period.

18:15 / Back to golf. *zzzz*

19:30 / A sudden turn to discussing "collusion and corruption." But... in South Korea. A guy talking about a golf tournament starts saying "we're getting screwed" by the South Korean government. Folks, this is the sort of corruption Trump might really care about: golf corruption!

20:00 / More seriously, it's clear Trump *hears* no one. This guy says he's being "screwed" by the Korean government—but Trump remembers he sent a "letter of recommendation" about this guy to the Koreans so "They must be treating you good"...though the guy just said they weren't.

21:00 / These people. This guy is using his stupid-ass golf tournament story as a way to attack Obama's attempt to do a trade deal in Asia. "Don't sign that deal!" this idiot golfer (Nickalaus? Dunno) says to the president repeatedly. And as he's attacking Obama, Trump loves it.

21:30 / Wow... now a man (I think Nickalaus, but I can't be sure) is lobbying Trump to hold an upcoming meeting with Kim Jong Un in a very specific city, because... as I understand it... this guy's business interests would be benefited. Peace? Who cares? Money? Now we're talking.

22:30 / Telling: Trump falsely says Kim Jong Un once said he shot an 18 in golf on an 18-hole course; when someone corrects him on that (clarifying it was *Kim Jong Il*), Trump just ignores it. *Then*, seconds later, he tells people it "was the father"...as though *he* knew that.

23:00 / Now Trump is complaining about Obama getting a Nobel Prize, and quoting someone for the premise that *he* should get one.

24:30 / He's bragging about his stupid border wall, and people are blowing smoke, saying, "Good thing Obama's not president!" Trump describes the border issue like it's a zombie invasion or something (i.e., "thousands" would be coming through daily if he weren't building a wall).

25:30 / Trump is telling a long and pointless story to justify him retreating from his plan for a "wall" to build, instead, something with "slats" you can see through. He's clearly humiliated by having wrongly said "wall" for years, so the whole thing is a sad self-justification.

26:00 / Trump's explaining—I'm not making this up—that if he hadn't chosen to go with slats, large numbers of border patrol agents would've been killed, Looney Tunes-style, by having "100-pound bags of drugs" catapulted onto their heads from the Mexico side of the border. Really.

27:30 / "Mr. President, how are we going to win the midterm elections, to give you a *heck* of a lot more power?" This is a question from one of the... uh, can I just call them "serfs"? No? Okay, "donors." Trump says the economy is so good he'll do better than anyone anticipates.

28:30 / Don Jr. is now saying that America should only have immigrants who "contribute," not people who "suck" from the system. He advocates a wholly merit-based system. (This is in response to a donor saying he stood up for Trump's immigration policy in talking to a friend.)

29:00 / Don Jr. says immigrants from Mexico are just looking for "handouts." Confirmed: the Trump family view of immigration is essentially the view your racist neighbor had in 1981. I bet they're going to start talking about "welfare queens" next. This is truly retrograde stuff.

29:45 / Trump says "the caravan thing" is "positive" because it shows people how "crazy" the immigration situation is. Don Jr. jumps in to say—and clearly—his father is "on the ticket" in the midterms, an interesting confession, given that the GOP got *decimated* in the midterms.

30:00 / Trump underscores something key: he doesn't care if he wins an election by "two votes." It's a view many in politics hold, but just underscores that Trump has no vision of being a president for all the people, or even 50%. He just needs to win any key vote by "two votes."

31:30 / Basically they're just lauding his election victory, which the donors say happened because the "real" workers and "forgotten" people live in the Heartland. The donor makes a good point: no one is "really" working on the coasts, and *all of them* feel *seen* by Washington.

32:00 / The donor clarifies his comment—people "work with their hands" in the Heartland (where I lived 8 years)... meaning, of course, the 123 million who live *directly* on a coast and the millions more who live near one don't "work with their hands." Sorry, Charleston plumbers!

32:30 / You can hear Lev Parnas excitedly discussing how happy he was when Trump won the 2016 election. Trump moves into a discussion of how the press is worse now than it was when he was elected (Lev had said, "they did everything they could" not to announce a Trump victory).

33:30 / Now they're talking about how @RealCandaceO will deliver a higher percentage of the black vote to Trump than anyone anticipated because we all know the GOP thinks if it can find...

...{deep breath}. They discussed Owens. Good for them. It wasn't sad or depressing at all.

@RealCandaceO 34:30 / Now they're talking about how they'll get tons of Millennial votes because... @charliekirk11, apparently.

Yes—all the kids can't stop talking about Charlie Kirk. Tik Tok is *wall-to-wall* Charlie Kirk, you know. (Or didn't you?)

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 35:00 / Now they're moving to energy. Trump says OPEC is the reason for high oil prices. He's bemoaning how hard it is for frackers to make a profit. The woman who's speaking is clearly from the energy sector. Don Jr. wants more fracking of "dry wells." *Big hearts* for fracking.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 36:30 / If all-white country clubs had "devil-worshippers' cloakrooms," I think they'd sound like this.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 37:00 / Trump wants to know how much oil West Texas can produce compared to Saudi Arabia. Then he wants to know its quality. Then he asks about the quality of Venezuelan oil (allegedly, low).

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 38:00 / Okay, we've arrived at the crux of the thing.

A donor (or , much less likely, Trump Jr., but I can't tell which voice) says "LNG changes the game. If we export LNG, we can supply Europe and Putin's done." Someone else says that that'd be great for U.S. national security.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 38:15 / Trump says something like, "which means more expensive." He changes the subject to Germany opening a pipeline into Russia, and paying Russia big money for it, and "we're supposed to be fighting Russia," and "Germany's a member of NATO." The situation upsets him, somehow.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 38:30 / Trump's point seems to be "we're paying 90% of the cost of NATO," and Germany is in NATO, and Germany is paying money to Russia for a pipeline, yet the U.S. can't do business with Russia because "we're supposed to be fighting them." In other words he wants the fight over.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 39:00 / I told you this was *all about energy*. Parnas clearly wants in on this chat: "We're in the process of purchasing an energy company in Ukraine right now that should help cut off Russia. They [Ukraine] love you [Trump]." Parnas' *side deal* is *everything* here, folks.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 39:00 / "They [Ukraine] are waiting for direction," Parnas tells Trump. "It's definitely a good opportunity [for you]." He wants (we have since learned) to push Trump to work *with* Ukraine to *harm* Russia by cutting off Russia's stranglehold on Ukraine's energy market. But....

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 39:15 / Holy sh*t.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 39:30 /

TRUMP: "Think Russia ever goes in and gets Ukraine, or no?"

Trump is talking about Russia *invading and taking over an entire European country*—and saying this in the context of his son Don Jr. bringing up selling Javelins to Ukraine (the sale had just been published).

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 39:30 / You have to understand that what Trump is *casually* discussing is something which, if it happened, could easily lead to WWIII. If Russia invades and completely takes over a European country, it's like Germany taking over Poland—it's a global game-changer instantaneously.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 39:45/ PARNAS: "They [Russia] would love [take over Ukraine], but they're scared of you [Trump]."

TRUMP JR.: "But they [Russia] got what they wanted [by annexing Crimea]. They wanted access to the sea."

I'm starting to think it *was* Don talking about LNG and Ukraine earlier.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 39:45 / PARNAS now fully has the floor. He explains to TRUMP Jr. that no, Russia *does* want *all* of Ukraine and always has—because it has vast resources. He notes too that Russia is "sore" about Ukraine because a Russian pipeline has to run through it to supply Europe with LNG.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 40:00 / Trump sounds surprised to learn that Ukraine has oil—adding, amazed, that it doesn't make sense then that "they don't have any money." He wants to know why companies aren't going into Ukraine to make money. He needs to know *way* more about a country *at war with Russia*.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 40:00 / PARNAS tells TRUMP plainly that Ukraine supported "the Clintons" for "all these years" and then mentions BIDEN—the first person to do so, though it sounds like FRUMAN may have said the word in broken English, softly, to nudge PARNAS into saying it. So PARNAS raises Biden.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 40:30 / FRUMAN: "Their [Ukraine's energy] potential is #1."

PARNAS to TRUMP: "They [Ukraine] have everything [natural resources], they're just waiting for your [Trump's] support a little bit to make sure because obviously if they go on their own, Russia won't let them do it."

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 40:30 / PARNAS seems to be saying Ukraine still relies heavily on Russia for aspects of its economy and can't "go on their own"—presumably meaning, be truly economically independent from Russia—because Russia would find ways to stop them. So, PARNAS indicates, the U.S. must help.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 41:15 / Here's what's so odd about this part of the now 40-minute-long conversation: Trump is *listening*. He's largely *quiet*. He's only *asking questions*. There's *zero* holding forth—he's trying to take in intelligence rather than spin stories, blow smoke or seek validation.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 41:15 / *Anyone* listening to this conversation would agree Trump is showing *a ton* of deference to Parnas. His entire demeanor in speaking has changed—even the questions he's asking seem *sincere*, like he really wants the answer. He's *not* just making conversation. It's odd.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 41:25 / I don't know how to describe what I'm hearing. Trump asks, "How is Ukraine feeling right now...do they feel they're going to be OK?" He's asking almost...carefully. Trump isn't a gentle person. He's not a listener. I've *no idea* why he is being so quiet and intense here.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 41:30 / PARNAS: "They [Ukraine] feel they're going to be OK if you support them."
TRUMP: "What about their leader [Poroshenko]?"
PARNAS: "He's a good guy."
TRUMP: "See—it's always us that has to support everybody."

So he's back—standoffish. Doesn't want to give Ukraine anything.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 41:45 / Suddenly Trump is all about Germany giving aid to Ukraine. He's focused on it.

My take: Trump thinks Ukraine is a lost cause. He's curious to know if a Ukrainian-American businessman sees that or if Ukrainians register it. But he'll be damned if he gives them anything.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 41:45 / I should mention that TRUMP JR. mentions RAY WASHBURNE of OPIC, the vice chairman of the incredibly corrupt TRUMP VICTORY COMMITTEE, who TRUMP JR. says is working on exploring investments in Ukraine. This could be the most important tidbit from this conversation so far.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 41:45 / Something's not right here. In the Russia scandal, TRUMP JR. was his father's point man—with Russia, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE. Now TRUMP JR. is sounding like a damn *Ukraine expert*. In *2018*. What the *hell* has he been up to? I think we haven't asked about him enough.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 41:45 / PARNAS: "Without us, [Ukraine would last] not very long [against Russia]." And TRUMP repeats, "Without us." TRUMP is clearly focused on how much Ukraine needs us, even as his son TRUMP JR...

...appears *very* knowledgable about the energy situation in Ukraine. *Very*. 🧐

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 41:45 / I just saw a tweet saying a tragic vehicle accident in California means all conversation on the third-ever presidential impeachment trial in America's 244-year history—which we're in the middle of—must stop. That convinced me to continue this thread about the Parnas Tape.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 41:45 / PARNAS tells TRUMP the "biggest problem" in Ukraine is "corruption." It's really PARNAS leading this conversation, with FRUMAN trying to help (but he doesn't speak English well). PARNAS and FRUMAN are selling TRUMP on the idea MERKEL is aiding PUTIN instead of Ukraine.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 41:45 / The effect on Trump is clear: he thinks we're being chumps if a) we help Ukraine when Europe isn't, and b) we don't do business with Russia while Europe is. Essentially, he sees no benefit to us from Ukraine or the rest of Europe but opportunities to make money in Russia.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 41:45 / Trump says *twice*, "It makes no sense" in summing up the situation I just described. It is 100% clear he wants to give no aid to Ukraine while European nations "get to" (my words) deal with Russia but he can't, and while Europe is (he wrongly thinks) not helping Ukraine.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:15 / Here's where the money quote from Parnas we've all seen comes in, with him telling Trump "the biggest problem" in Ukraine is "we gotta get rid of the ambassador"—and *yet again* raising Clinton as a *wholly transparent* way of goading Trump into action. It's so obvious.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:15 / You really have to listen to this tape yourself—as I *can't express* how *different* this part of the conversation is from the rest. No crosstalk. No interrupting. Almost *total* silence except for Lev speaking. It's like *everyone knows* that these words *really* matter.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:30 / No... no. This is *really* strange. Listen to these 45 minutes of tape and you'll see Trump's behavior during this part of the conversation is *180 degrees* from the rest of the conversation. His statement about Yovanovitch is the *first* anger he exhibits in 45 minutes.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:30 / Understand: this is a group of powerful people who've been discussing the biggest geopolitical issues *in the world* with humor and crosstalk and low intensity. When *Ukraine* is raised, the temperature in the room transforms—and *especially* Trump's. Listen for yourself.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:30 / TRUMP on YOVANOVITCH (full quote): "Get rid of her. Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it." But the bizarre thing: the *very* next topic is the donors saying Trump should go to the FBI and demand 1.2 million pages from them.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:30 / So it's confusing. Why do the donors immediately see a connection between Yovanovitch and what one donor calls a "deep state" effort to hide over 1 million pages of documents from the president? You feel like *this* explains why everything went quiet when Ukraine came up.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:30 / It's easy for us to forget we don't know what Parnas told the America First folks about Ukraine—or his plans for talking with Trump—before this recorded event. It's possible they all knew the most intense part of the conversation would involve Ukraine, so they fell quiet.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:30 / It seems clear that at least *some* donor besides Lev and Igor thinks what's happening in Ukraine is tied to a "deep state" conspiracy against Trump. I'd like to know who the person was. And Trump responds by blithely *confirming* the Mueller probe is a "deep-state deal."

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:45 / Trump says the stuff "they have about the other side"—a reference to alleged Clinton misconduct—is "so bad"...

I've got to stop here for a second—because none of this makes sense. It's clear that there were conversations preceding this one that are *informing* this one.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:45 / Trump's reaction to the Yovanovitch thing is *too* quick; he fires her *without even* (he claims) knowing her name, and then seconds later he's talking about a deep-state conspiracy? Literally this conversation makes no sense unless it's been informed by many other talks.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:45 / Consider: Trump told Gordon in March '16 he "didn't want WWIII" over Ukraine and to change the GOP platform on Ukraine. In June '17 he sent Rudy to negotiate with Poroshenko (Ukraine's then-president) over Manafort. This conversation is, in essence...a sham? I'll explain.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:45 / It's *possible* Trump really *doesn't* know Yovanovitch's name in April 2018. But he knows a *helluva* lot more about Ukraine than he's saying in this conversation, as he's been discussing Ukraine with Giuliani for about a year (at least). So *none* of this is impromptu.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 42:45 / I'm not saying that this conversation is staged—that'd be silly—I'm saying I think Giuliani knew Lev by April 2018, and I think Trump had been told he needed to hear from Lev on Ukraine, and I think that's why his (and *everyone's*) demeanor changes when Ukraine comes up.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 44:30 / After everyone commiserates with Trump about how *evil* Comey is, and the "left," and the "deep state," someone proposes a toast to Trump and his family for heroically putting up with all they've put up with. {Feel free to go vomit now; this "toast" is hard to listen to.}

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 45:15 / Well, because apparently things have to be *as weird as possible* now, after this creepy "toast" clearly intended to stop the conversation from going into uncomfortable waters—i.e., the ongoing probe of Trump—Parnas goes to Trump to ask him about banking and.... cannabis.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 46:30 / The room gets chilly at this point, because Lev says he's trying to "help with the midterms" and the "young people" by pushing cannabis liberalization—while the old rich white people in the room are clearly horrified by *any* drugs (they say) and react negatively to Lev.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 46:45 / Lev's being very forward with Trump, which is one thing that makes me think Trump has already been primed for Parnas by Giuliani. Parnas keeps saying, "You need to... you need to..." So either Rudy primed him *or*—wait for it... we have ample proof Trump already knew Lev!

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 47:30 / I mean Lev Parnas is *hardcore* lobbying Trump on setting up a bipartisan committee on cannabis. It's almost... uncomfortable how confident and familiar he's being. You really don't/can't interact with a president like this unless you've spoken with him many times before.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 48:00 / That said, I don't mean to suggest Trump "knows" Parnas well—it's evident he doesn't from Parnas having to tell him he's "in the energy industry" and "lives in Florida," but either Trump recognizes him, they've spoken before, or Giuliani primed Trump to hear from Parnas.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 48:00 / Clearly, Trump knew enough about Parnas beforehand to cede the floor of the entire room and meal—which Trump does—to let Parnas talk about Ukraine. Trump's interest when Parnas is talking about cannabis (or himself) is clearly not *nearly* as high as on the Ukraine topic.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 49:00 / Now *this* is interesting. In the context of Parnas talking about current IMPEACHMENT JUROR RICK SCOTT as a "we"—meaning Parnas is close enough to him that he speaks of his campaign this way—Parnas *also* talks about having lunch with Trump IMPEACHMENT ATTORNEY Pam Bondi.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 49:00 / So if Parnas ever came to the Senate to testify—he wouldn't; it doesn't work that way—he'd be in the presence of a Trump lawyer he's lunched with, another (Sekulow) he's often spoken to, a juror (Scott) he knows well, another (Braun) he had a photo with—you get the point.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 49:45 / God Lev won't shut up about pot

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 49:45 / I want to emphasize: Lev and Trump are in one-on-one conversation for a *while*. Everyone is leaving them alone to talk—even though they're on opposite sides of the table. Lev then says he and Igor are "bidding" on a large Ukrainian energy company that's being privatized.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 50:00 / This is suddenly getting interesting again—as Lev and Trump are in a *lengthy* 1-on-1 powwow. *No one else* is involved. This has been several minutes—the *only* conversation of this sort Trump has held the whole meal. And Lev is talking Poland, Lithuania, and... Turkey.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 50:00 / Someone asked the date of all this: it's April 30, 2018.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 50:30 / This is just some b*tshit stuff right here. Lev is talking *major* geopolitics: Russia doing a nuclear deal with Turkey, Lev working to put a pipeline in Ukraine "under the water" to "cut Russia off at the knees" by supplying energy to Turkey. Trump, oddly, doesn't bite.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 51:00 / Golf talk 😴

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 Thread continues here:

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1221599670809636864

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 53:00 / Trump talks about how badly cable news needs him to survive. He says cable would lose 80% of its viewership if he weren't president ("if Crooked Hillary had won," he says). Then the donors launch into lauding him for how amazing he is. This goes on for a little bit.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 54:15 / Trump says he would've beaten Obama easily in 2012 🤣

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 56:00 / You want weird? Trump appears to ask Parnas... if Sanders is going to run in 2020. (Trump seems concerned about this possibility.) Why does this question seem to be aimed at Parnas? Maybe it isn't, but the audio really makes it seem that way. I can't make any sense of it.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 56:20 / OK, I got some news for you: Trump's son Don, in April 2018, seeming to say he thinks Biden will run. Remember: Trump and Giuliani claim they'd *no idea* Biden would run until the day he announced. But the Trumps (Jr. at a minimum) seem to have assumed it by spring 2018.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 56:30 / A conversation about LNG, wind, solar, oil, Tesla, and Trump promising to lower CAFE standards. Some donor—not Lev or Igor—is talking about LNG and CNG (compressed natural gas). Makes me wonder... how many people at this damn table are in the energy industry? Nearly all?

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 57:00 / I've said before and will say again that the Ukraine scandal is about the same two things the Russia scandal was about:

1⃣ Putin
2⃣ Energy

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:01:00 / Way more talk about the Ford F150 than I can handle

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:03:00 / Lev is whispering to Igor; he seems to whisper, "Do you want to stop the [inaudible]?" Is he talking about Igor's secret recording? Did they *both* know about it? If so, what was their game in recording this? (Perhaps to bolster their cred with Ukrainian businessmen?)

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:05:00 / I'll say Trump is now asking a *lot* of questions about energy. He seems...*really* interested in energy. Does anyone have a sense from his *public* conversations that he has *this* level of interest in this topic? Lev and Igor are whispering again—in Ukrainian, partly.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:06:30 / I could swear you hear Lev whisper to Igor, "Trust me." But it's hard to hear.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:08:00 / I would say this is the worst conversation about "trucking" ever but I've managed to escape any such conversation up until this very moment

I'm 43

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:09:00 / Now they're talking about Amazon.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:09:30 / He's complaining about Amazon ripping off the post office.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:10:00 / A native Ukrainian speaker would be able to catch a *ton* of whispering between Lev and Igor, I believe.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:11:00 / Now we're onto autonomous cars. Credit to these folks for covering a lot of ground in an 80-minute conversation.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:12:00 / Lev senses the dinner is almost over, so he addresses the president directly for the first time in a while, and does so to give him a gift that...

...{face plant}...

...apparently compares him to the Jewish messiah. This is some seriously sick sacrilegious stuff here.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:12:30 / FRUMAN: "[You have] the same numbers as the [Jewish] Messiah [in Hebrew numerology]."

This is... just humiliating for all Jews.

And—note—Lev refers to Judaism as "the Hebrew religion." So... not an MoT, I'm guessing.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:12:30 / More on Trump-as-Messiah:

FRUMAN to TRUMP: "It [your 'number'] is like, like, not *good*, it's like *best* [Jewish numerology number]! It's like miracle!"

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:14:00 / Trump discussing move of U.S. embassy in Israel, including private negotiations with the Israeli ambassador, with random donors.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:16:00 / Trump thanks everyone for coming. Somehow turns it into a complaint that he can't do certain campaign activities in certain locations he wants to do them because of federal law. Trump and (particularly) Don Jr. are pissed about it.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 1:18:00 / The donors give Trump some stupid gift and I don't care enough to figure out what it is. Someone asks Trump to sign a hat. Anyway, you can tell how exhausted I am I actually just wrote "Jewish embassy" when I meant to say "US embassy in Israel." Yikes...I must be tired.

@RealCandaceO @charliekirk11 CONCLUSION / I hope folks found this helpful. Going to go have dinner... many hours overdue! 😁