The New York Times published a story in December 2019 about how Russian-born businessmen Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman became involved with President Donald Trump and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.
The story begins with an anecdote about the closeness of Parnas’s relationship with Giuliani by describing Parnas with Giuliani and some of his other associates on a private cruise around New York harbor drinking cocktails while Joe Piscopo crooned the Theme from New York, New York.
Parnas should have heeded the warning:
Nothing good happens when the entertainment for the evening is Piscopo’s stale impression of Frank Sinatra singing New York, New York.
Parnas missed another warning:
Nothing good – or perhaps even legal — happens when you work closely with Rudy Giuliani.
Parnas and his partner Igor Fruman greased the clammy palms of Trump with a political contribution and then they worked with Giuliani to dig up dirt on Trump’s political rivals, The Times said.
One would lead to the arrests of Parnas and Fruman; the other to Trump’s impeachment.
The Times reported that Parnas and Fruman, or “Lev” and “Igor,” as they became affectionately known, helped “Giuliani carry out a shadow diplomacy campaign, sweeping them into a chain of events” that led to Trump’s impeachment for pressuring the Ukrainian president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter for illegal business activity.
In addition, Parnas and Fruman, using their connections in Russia and Ukraine, spread disinformation that it was Ukraine – and not Russia – that meddled in the 2016 Presidential Election.
Fruman and Parnas ended up ensnarled in Trump’s first impeachment and then in prison on an unrelated matter.
The Russian-born Parnas and Fruman wormed their way into the Trump inner circle by making a donation to Trump’s campaign for $325 thousand to a pro-Trump super PAC, America First Action. Fruman reported that the money came from his company, but it didn’t; it came from a loan that he took out.
This is a violation of Federal Election law.
In addition, Parnas and Fruman violated Federal Election laws by soliciting $1 million from a Russian tycoon, The Times reported.
Parnas and Fruman were arrested in 2019.
When Trump was asked about them, he claimed he had never heard of them.
“I don’t know them,” Trump told reporters after they were arrested. “I don’t know about them. I don’t know what they do but I don’t know, maybe they were clients of Rudy. You’d have to ask Rudy, I just don’t know.”
Yet Trump, according to CNN, posed at least seven times for photos with either Fruman or Parnas. CNN also reported that Fruman and Parnas had a private meeting with Trump and Giuliani at the White House in December 2018.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/15/politics/lev-parnas-trump-ukraine/index.html
Parnas, who would not be ignored, broke with Trump and Giuliani and turned over material to the House impeachment committee.
Parnas said Trump was lying when he said he didn’t know who Parnas and Fruman were. He also said Trump was lying when he denied knowledge of the wrongdoings in Ukraine.
Trump “knew exactly what was going on,” Parnas said.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/15/politics/lev-parnas-trump-ukraine/index.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_us-politics_trump-terms-parnas-claims-current-hoax/6182674.html
The articles of impeachment said that Trump “solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential Election. He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to his advantage.”
https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hres755/BILLS-116hres755enr.pdf
In October 2021, a New York City jury convicted Parnas of several campaign finance charges including conspiracy to make contributions by a foreign national and falsifying records.
In January 2022, Fruman pleaded guilty was fined $10,000 and sentenced to one year and one day in prison.
