Why does Lev matter? He’s providing a roadmap to many “high crimes” and who is caught up in them. People didn’t want to believe Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen after he was arrested either, but these guys were “insiders” and truly know where all the dirt and skeletons reside.
We were hearing about Rudy Guiliani and his associates “Lev & Igor” on MSNBC last fall before their October arrests. And, a New York crime reporter reminds us:
- Fox TV host Sean Hannity was Michael Cohen’s “Client 3.” (#1 was Trump and #2 was Elliott Broidy, an RNC finance chair.)
- Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman claimed they had traveled to Vienna (before their arrest) to assist with Hannity’s interview with Ukrainian ex-prosecutor Viktor Shokin.
Important because Trump World tries to discredit people who were once key figures.
The Senate doesn’t actually need to spend precious “prime time” interviewing Parnas (they can depose him privately.) We, the public, deserve and need to hear from direct fact witnesses Parnas incriminates like Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Pompeo (just as we heard HOURS of testimony from Hillary Clinton when she served in that capacity), Chief of Staff (and former Budget Director) Mulvaney, former Energy Secretary Rick Perry and probably Trump’s former National Security advisor John Bolton. Such testimony might lead to further investigations (even other impeachments) and the need to hear even more from Attorney General Bill Barr.
Another revelation before the Senate Impeachment Trial begins: Parnas’ VIP status as a major donor to Florida Governor DeSantis may shed light on why Trump changed his residency to the Sunshine State. Friendly former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is named as one of the attorneys who will represent Trump at his trial. The new GoP Governor barely squeaked out a win last fall. One can see advantages to getting out of New York where state and local prosecutors aren’t so friendly– in fact, they’ve been hot on Trump’s trail and have plenty of pending charges whenever he leaves office.
As Rachel says, “watch this space.”
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