WASHINGTON (AP) A close associate of President Donald Trumps personal lawyer says he delivered an ultimatum in May to the incoming president of Ukraine that no senior U.S. officials would attend his inauguration and all American aid to the war-torn country would be withheld if an investigation into Joe Biden wasnt announced.
Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, made several potentially explosive claims in a televised interview Wednesday night with MSNBCs Rachel Maddow. The day after Parnas said he delivered the message, the State Department announced that Vice President Mike Pence would no longer be attending the inauguration of Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy.
Parnas alleged that Trump ordered Pence to stay away at the behest of Giuliani to send a clear message to the incoming Ukrainian administration that they needed to take seriously the demand for an investigation into Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate seen as a potential threat to Trumps 2020 reelection.
Parnas said every communication he had with Zelenskiys team was at the direction of Giuliani, whom he regularly overheard briefing Trump about their progress by phone.
President Trump knew exactly what was going on, said Parnas, a Soviet-born Florida businessman facing a raft of criminal charges related to campaign finance violations. He was aware of all my movements. I wouldnt do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani, or the President.
Trumps press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, disparaged Parnas account today.
Just to say Rudy told me these things doesnt mean that it has anything to do with the president, she told Fox & Friends. And it certainly doesnt mean that the president was directing him to do anything. We stand by exactly what weve been saying: The president did nothing wrong.
If Parnas allegations are true, his account undercuts a key Republican defense of Trump deployed during the ongoing impeachment fight that Trumps withholding of vital military aid to Ukraine last summer wasnt a quid pro quo for Biden investigations because Zelenskiy didnt know the money was being held up.
Giuliani called Parnas statements sad.
I feel sorry for him, Giuliani said Wednesday in a text message to an AP reporter. I thought he was an honorable man. I was wrong.
The new accusations came as House Democrats made public a trove of documents, text messages and photos from Parnas smartphones that appear to verify parts of his account.
A federal judge earlier this month ruled that Parnas could provide the materials to Congress as part of the impeachment proceedings. Democrats voted in December to impeach Trump for abuse of power and for obstruction of Congress.
A House committee chairman said Wednesday his panel will investigate what he says are profoundly alarming text messages among the newly disclosed materials that have raised questions about the possible surveillance of former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch before she was ousted by the Trump administration last spring.
The messages show that a Robert F. Hyde, a Republican candidate for Congress from Connecticut, disparaged Yovanovitch in messages to Parnas and gave him updates on her location and cellphone use.
Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Wednesday that the messages are profoundly alarming and suggest a possible risk to Yovanovitchs security in Kyiv before she was recalled from her post.
