How could senators possibly ignore the damning testimony of Lev ‘Smoking Gun’ Parnas?
Lev Parnas arrives to court in New York, Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. Parnas and Igor Fruman, close associates to U.S. President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, were arrested last month at an airport outside Washington while trying to board a flight to Europe with one-way tickets. They were later indicted by federal prosecutors on charges of conspiracy, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and falsification of records. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) ORG XMIT: NYSW107 (Photo: Seth Wenig, AP)
The president is lying. The president knew exactly what was going on. The plan was to strong arm Ukraine into announcing an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
That was the story of Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-born associate of Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, during an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.
In addition, there were texts and documents released Wednesday backing up much of his story. Information that Parnas and his attorney asked to be publicly released. Parnas and his friend, Igor Fruman, were big-time Republican donors. Parnas eventually became the front man for Giuliani within Ukraine.
‘Trump knew exactly what was going on’
“I don’t know those gentlemen,” Trump said in October about Parnas and Fruman, even though Trump and the men had been photographed together numerous times.
Parnas told Maddow, “He (Trump) lied. He knew exactly who we were.”
He also said, “Trump knew exactly what was going on.”
He said of his role in Ukraine that he “wouldn’t do anything without consent of Rudy Giuliani or the president.”
He also said – and this would be incredibly difficult to refute – “Why would President Zelensky’s inner circle, or Minister Avakov, or all these people, or President Poroshenko, meet with me? Who am I? They were told to meet with me. And that’s the secret that they’re trying to keep. I was on the ground doing their work.”
If there are no witnesses, there’s no trial
Will the senators now do their work?
It’s pretty simple, actually.
Call witnesses.
Parnas, for example. And former administration official John Bolton, who said he would respond to a subpoena.
Trump has refused to allow members of his administration to testify before the House. If he had done so, there may not be a need for them to testify before the Senate. That is what happened during the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton. But since there was no House testimony there can only be Senate testimony.
If not, there is no trial.
And the Constitution is meaningless.
Why ignore so many smoking guns?
Parnas is a smoking gun.
He’s the latest smoking gun.
There have been so many that anyone looking into what Trump has done in the Ukraine affair needs a gas mask.
But Parnas was a Trump true believer. He and Fruman were indicted for conspiring to “circumvent the federal laws against foreign interference by engaging in a scheme to funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and State office.”
His public statements might actually get him into more trouble.
Let him testify and have him cross examined. Investigate the documentation he has released. Hear from Bolton. Or, the Senate can go with the current political variation on the old adage.
Where there’s smoke, there’s … a cover-up.
Ed Montini is a columnist for the Arizona Republic where this column first appeared.
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