The Washington Post - 05.11.2019

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU A

BY DEANNA PAUL,

ROSALIND S. HELDERMAN,

TOM HAMBURGER

AND JOSH DAWSEY

An attorney for Lev Parnas, an
associate of Rudolph W. Giuliani
who was charged last month with
campaign finance violations, said
Monday that his client is willing to
comply with the House impeach-
ment inquiry — and challenged the
notion that President Trump does
not know Parnas.
In a statement to The Washing-
ton Post, Joseph A. Bondy noted
that Parnas had a number of inter-
actions with the president and his
personal attorney, Giuliani, despite
Trump’s claim that he was not fa-
miliar with his client.
“Any sentient being looking at
the public record of the president
and Parnas together — during inti-
mate dinners, waving to each other
at rallies, taking pictures together,
and of Parnas’s alleged involve-
ment with the president’s lawyer
Rudy Giuliani — could divine that
the president and Parnas knew
each other,” he said.
Bondy said that it would “defy all
reason” to conclude the two did not
know one another. “If the president
really did not know Mr. Parnas, it
would imply a degree of ignorance
that we are not prepared to attri-
bute to him,” he said.
He also said that Parnas plans to
“honor and not avoid” requests
from congressional investigators,
“to the extent they are legally prop-
er while scrupulously protecting
Mr. Parnas’ privileges including
that of the Fifth Amendment” to
avoid self-incrimination.
Last month, three House com-
mittees delivered subpoenas to
Parnas and his associate Igor Fru-
man for documents and renewed
their request for the men to testify,
which they had so far refused to do.
Parnas’s willingness to comply
with the impeachment inquiry
could provide congressional inves-
tigators with a trove of information

about Giuliani’s shadow foreign

policy efforts in Ukraine. Parnas

and Fruman helped Giuliani in his

attempts to locate information in

Ukraine that is damaging to Demo-

crats. Parnas’s stance was first re-

ported by Reuters.

A White House spokesman and

Giuliani did not immediately re-

spond to a request for comment.

Parnas was arrested last month

at Dulles International Airport

along with Fruman. Both were

charged with conspiring to violate

campaign finance laws by funnel-

ing foreign money to various state

and federal candidates. They have

pleaded not guilty.

Parnas and Fruman have

emerged as central figures in the

impeachment inquiry into Trump.

The two men, who were born in the

former Soviet Union and main-

tained business contacts in

Ukraine, helped connect Giuliani

with former prosecutors in that

country.

Photographs posted by the two

men to social media also show that

they interacted with Trump repeat-

edly since Parnas first gave a

$50,000 donation to his campaign

in October 2016. In May 2018, the

pro-Trump super PAC America

First reported receiving a $325,

donation from an energy company

the duo had recently formed.

On Monday, America First con-

firmed that Parnas and Fruman

were part of a small dinner on

April 30, 2018, that was organized

by the group and attended by

Trump and his son Donald Trump

Jr. at the Trump International Ho-

tel in Washington. White House

pool reports show Trump was at

the dinner for nearly 90 minutes.

Alan Futerfas, an attorney for

Trump Jr., said in a statement that

“over the past few years, he has

attended literally hundreds of do-

nor events. Nothing about this one

stands out.”

Kelly Sadler, a spokeswoman for

the super PAC, said the roundtable

dinner was “typical of the dinners

arranged for potential donors.” She

declined to comment on what was

discussed at the off-the-record

event.

The dinner was one of a number

of gatherings for top donors, de-

signed to indicate that the super

PAC was the organization that had

the president’s imprimatur to col-

lect large checks, according to a

person familiar with the event who

spoke on the condition of anonym-

ity to discuss the private dinner.

About 15 people were in atten-

dance, according to another per-

son familiar with the gathering.

On May 1, the day after the din-

ner, Parnas posted a photo of him-

self with Trump standing between

two American flags, giving a

thumbs-up. “Thank you President

Trump !!!” he wrote, adding, “in-

credible dinner and even better

conversation.”

Fruman has also posted photo-

graphs of himself with Trump at

the president’s estate in Florida,

Mar-a-Lago. Parnas was also an

occasional figure near the presi-

dent at Mar-a-Lago, according to

an administration official and club

member.

But after Parnas and Fruman

were arrested, Trump told report-

ers that he did not know the two

men.

“I don’t know those gentlemen,”

the president said the following

day. “Now it’s possible I have a

picture with them because I have a

picture with everybody. I have a

picture with everybody here,” he

said.

But, he added, “I don’t know

them. I don’t know about them. I

don’t know what they do, but I

don’t know, maybe they were cli-

ents of Rudy. You’d have to ask

Rudy. I just don’t know.”

Bondy said that Parnas had

learned of the president’s com-

ments while in jail, awaiting re-

lease on bail, and was “very disap-

pointed.”

Parnas had previously been rep-

resented by John Dowd, a former

personal attorney for Trump, who

had told Congress last month that

Parnas would not cooperate.

It is unclear whether House

Democrats would be willing to

grant Parnas congressional immu-

nity to secure his testimony.

Such immunity is a seldom-

granted privilege that prevents

prosecutors from using in a crimi-

nal case whatever a witness tells

lawmakers. That can significantly

complicate prosecutors’ ability to

proceed, as it essentially taints

even evidence they have gathered

independent of Congress. Typical-

ly, lawmakers consult with the Jus-

tice Department before offering

immunity, and in this instance, the

department would almost certain-

ly oppose the move.

A spokesman for the House In-

telligence Committee and a

spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s

office in the Southern District of

New York declined to comment.

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Matt Zapotosky, Ellen Nakashima and

Alice Crites contributed to this report.

Giuliani associate open to participation in House probe

Lawyer challenges

claim that president

does not know Parnas

VICTOR J. BLUE/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudolph W. Giuliani, arrives with his wife, Svetlana, for a hearing in

federal court in New York on Oct. 23. He is charged with conspiring to violate campaign finance laws.

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