In the news …
by Mustang
The House of Representative’s ace in the hole is everything we’ve come to expect of the Democratic Party. Lev Parnas is that ace Democrats have been placing all their hopes on for a conviction of Donald J. Trump in the United States Senate, Mr. Trump and his legal team must be celebrating his acquittal even before the trial begins.
Lev Parnas is a Ukrainian-American “businessman” who has said that he’s got the goods on President Trump’s misconduct, which Democrats contend involves a conspiracy with Ukrainian officials to derail the presidential candidacy of Joe Biden. Lev Parnas claims that he participated with the Trump administration in the search for detrimental information concerning Trump’s political opponents.
Parnas claims that he has proof against Trump/Giuliani, including a photograph taken with Trump. The photograph was taken in 2006, which in case anyone is paying attention, was a full ten years ahead of the 2016 presidential elections.
So then, who is this guy?
Lev Parnas was born in Odessa, Ukraine, when Ukraine was still a satellite of the Soviet Union. He migrated to the United States when he was about 3-years old. He grew up in Detroit, Michigan and then later in Brooklyn, New York. As a recent graduate from Baruch College, he worked for Kings Highway Realty, where he sold Trump Organization co-op apartments.
Parnas and Giuliani
In 1996, Parnas moved to Florida where he worked in several businesses involving real estate, securities, precious metals, and then ended up starting his own company, which he named Parnas Holdings. After failing in a film project, he partnered with Igor Fruman in an energy venture.
According to the Miami Herald, Parnas owes more debt than he has net worth. Igor Fruman was born in Belarus, migrated to the United States, and lived in Detroit, Michigan before migrating to South Florida.
His business interests have been an import/export company, a beach bar in Ukraine, and fund-raising for Jewish charities. He is also an associate of Ihor Kolomoyskyi, a wealthy Ukrainian who is under investigation by the Department of Justice for money laundering.
At this point, one might wonder what benefit Democrats think Parnas could offer their case against Trump, but it gets worse.
Democrats contend that Lev and Igor are (or have been) associates of Rudy Giuliani and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. According to CNN, the two men were recently arrested because of their involvement in an effort to influence US politics and policy through foreign funds paid to members of congress.
So far in the investigation, however, all we know for certain is that Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman had lunch with Giuliani a few hours before they were arrested by the FBI. Then, according to journalist Peter Weber, Giuliani is guilty of taking Igor to the state funeral of George H. W. Bush.
Grasping at straws comes to mind.
Lev Parnas is the founder and CEO of a company called Fraud Guarantee. Fraud Guarantee hired Giuliani Partners to provide legal advice, allegedly paying Giuliani’s firm a half-million dollars for their services.
Another allegation is that Florida officials may have dissolved Fraud Guarantee before it hired Giuliani’s consulting firm because Fraud Guarantee failed to file an annual report. When did the state of Florida take this action? In 2014. Whether any of this is true may not matter, because unless someone alleges that Giuliani accepted the half-million dollars as a bribe, there is no crime in accepting money in exchange for services rendered so long as the services are legal.
To the best of my knowledge, offering legal advice is still a lawful enterprise. More to the point, Mr. Giuliani’s status of Mr. Trump’s personal attorney does not preclude Giuliani from having other clients. No one alleges any wrongdoing by Giuliani Partners, but everyone with a progressive agenda is happy to imply that Giuliani is somehow guilty by association.
According to Parnas’ story, Giuliani sent he and Igor to Ukraine in late 2018 to look for damaging information about President Trump’s political opponent, Joe Biden —I suppose in a somewhat similar fashion to the DNC’s concoction of the Steele Dossier. In November 2019, Parnas told CNN that he would be willing to testify to Congress regarding these activities, which also involved Representative Devin Nunes. Soon after, everyone in the Democratic Party wet themselves.
Maybe Parnas’ testimony will work out for House Democrats, but Parnas and Fruman were arrested by the FBI on 9 Oct 2019 and charged with planning to transfer funds from a foreign government to US officials. So, this actually may not go in the direction House Democrats hoped.
In 2018, Parnas and Fruman donated funds and pledge further additional money to an unnamed member of Congress, who was “recruited” for the campaign to oust US Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch. These were donations that not only violated campaign limits but were also funneled to the congress-critter through a shell company. Former Representative Pete Sessions is believed to be the “officially unnamed” member of congress.
As my good friend Bunkerville keeps reminding us, all is well in the swamp.
____________
That which is not good for the beehive cannot be good for the bees. —Marcus Aurelius
Mustang also blogs at Fix Bayonets and Thoughts From Afar
What did they think was going to happen when the Democrats were given this time? Wise old crusty McConnell had to know what the Dems would do with the time. Schiff came with the requisite audio-visuals straight from the House proceedings. Of course not the statements that had been disproven by Trump’s attorneys. The most Trump’s attorney could muster at times was “can’t we get the trial started?’ Hate to tell them but it was well underway. First impressions mean everything. Those who may not have followed the House hearing got the full bore evidence as they determined it to be.
BUNKERVILLE | God, Guns and Guts Comrades! 