Thread by @KlasfeldReports

A telephone conference is about to begin in the Lev Parnas case.

I'll be following along remotely.

We're about to begin now.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos for the govt.

Attorney Joseph Bondy appears for Lev Parnas.

Attorney Todd Blanche for Igor Fruman.

Attorney Gerald Lefcourt for Andrey Kukushkin.

U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken asks whether the parties consent to remote proceedings.

They do.

The defendants are about to be arraigned on the superseding indictment, which includes the alleged Fraud Guarantee scheme.

Prosecutor Roos described those charges.

Lev Parnas pleads not guilty to the superseding indictment.

Igor Fruman pleads not guilty to the superseding indictment.

Andrey Kukushkin pleads not guilty to the superseding indictment.

The fourth defendant, David Correia, previously pleaded guilty, without a cooperation agreement. lawandcrime.com/high-profile/l…

Status update from the government now on discovery.

Fruman's attorney Todd Blanche says it has been difficult to prepare for trial amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kukushkin's attorney Lefcourt echoes those remarks.

"I've long ago alerted you to our concern about the quantity of material."

He says it's not possible to prepare for trial without seeing your client in a conference room.

Lefcourt: The EDNY has shut down trials. Many other courts around the country have shut down trials.

"It's too dangerous to go to trial now. I worry about it."

He asks for adjournment of the motions and the trial date.

Lev Parnas' attorney Joseph Bondy agrees with his peers at the defense table about the challenges of preparing for trial in the age of COVID-19.

Bondy notes that there is some data suggesting pandemic-era juries have excluded the elderly, people of color and Latino populations.

Judge Oetken says he's "inclined" to move the trial again because "we're almost certainly not" going to get on the calendar for March 1, which was the date.

"I would be inclined to move the trial to a date that works for everybody."

Bondy questions the striking out of the allegations surrounding the plot against Marie Yovanovitch from the superseding indictment.

Bondy cited that "streamlining," as he said the government called it, as a reason to probe the grand jury process.

Background: Lev Parnas cooperated with the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into the plot against Yovanovitch at the heart of Trump's impeachment.

The government's new indictment excises that from the charges.

The hearing is adjourned.