Hoo boy

Among the many guests who had their pictures taken with President Donald Trump at the White House's annual Hanukkah party last year were two Soviet-born businessmen from Florida, Lev Parnas and Igor  Fruman. 

In the picture, which Parnas posted on social media, he and Fruman are seen smiling alongside Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Rudy Giuliani, the President's personal lawyer.

At one point during the party that night, Parnas and Fruman slipped out of a large reception room packed with hundreds of Trump donors to have a private meeting with the President and Giuliani, according to two acquaintances in whom Parnas confided right after the meeting.

  CNN

Mike Pence wasn't smart enough to stay out of the picture. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump didn't call him over for it in order to place Pence squarely in the frame if all this shit ever came out. But I also wouldn't be surprised if Pence is knee-high in the corruption.

Eventually, according to what Parnas told his confidants, the topic turned to Ukraine that night. According to those two confidants, Parnas said that "the big guy," as he sometimes referred to the President in conversation, talked about tasking him and Fruman with what Parnas described as "a secret mission" to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Not very secret if you're blabbing it at a party.

To Parnas, the chain of command was clear: Giuliani would issue the President's directives while Parnas, who speaks fluent Russian, would be an on-the-ground investigator alongside Fruman, who has numerous business contacts in Ukraine.

"Parnas viewed the assignment as a great crusade," says one of the people in whom Parnas confided. "He believed he was doing the right thing for Trump."

No wonder he was hurt that Trump claimed not to know him. I'm guessing he didn't know anything about Michael Cohen?

Giuliani, through his lawyer, Robert Costello, denies that any private meeting took place that night at the White House, saying it was a mere handshake and photo opportunity. Costello also rejects Parnas' claims of being put on a "James Bond" style mission, saying that Parnas is "no Sean Connery," and that he suffers from "delusions of grandeur."

So Giuliani finally got a lawyer.

Joseph A. Bondy, a lawyer for Parnas, told CNN, "Mr. Parnas at all times believed that he was acting only on behalf of the President, as directed by his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and never on behalf of any Ukrainian officials."

A lawyer for Fruman declined to comment for this article.

And Fruman is going to be a very important witness.Trump will want to make sure he gets paid well.

Ken McCallion, a former federal prosecutor with numerous high-level clients in Ukraine, including former and current government officials, told CNN that he's heard a similar story about the Hanukkah party encounter. Parnas told some of McCallion's clients and contacts in Ukraine about the encounter. "Parnas told everyone in Ukraine about the White House meeting. He was adamant he was 'their guy' -- that they chose him to be their ambassador in Ukraine," McCallion said.

The December meeting at the White House is not the first report of Parnas and the President discussing Ukraine. The Washington Post has reported that in April 2018 at a small fundraising dinner in a suite at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, Parnas told Trump that the US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, was unfriendly to him and his interests. Trump, according to the Post report, which cited people familiar with Parnas' account of the event, suggested that Yovanovitch should be fired.

A year later in May 2019, Yovanovitch was recalled from her post.

Do we have anyone testifying to that at the impeachment hearings? If not, we need to. Trump needs to be placed squarely in this shit. Sondland's phone call to him will do it, but the more testimony that does the job, the more ironclad the case.

The two sources who Parnas confided in about the Hanukkah meeting at the White House tell CNN that they were often with Parnas over the past eighteen months, and that he "worshipped" the President.

However he felt back then, those two sources say Parnas now feels quite differently about Trump. The day after Parnas and Fruman were arrested on October 9 and charged with criminal campaign finance violations, Trump publicly denied ever knowing them, a move that was enormously upsetting to Parnas, according to three sources close to him.

[...]

In the weeks since his arrest, Parnas has become disenchanted with Trump, these sources say. He's even signaled that he's willing to cooperate with the Congressional impeachment inquiry. Parnas' lawyer Bondy said his client would comply with a Congressional subpoena for documents and testimony as part of the impeachment inquiry in a manner that would allow him to protect his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

I don't know how that would work.

Both Parnas and Fruman have pleaded not guilty [to illegal campaign contributions] and are currently out on bail and on house arrest in Florida awaiting trial.

[...]

Parnas' relationship with Giuliani and Fruman has also been strained, Parnas' two confidants tell CNN. That's a far cry from the days when the trio frequently met at the Trump Hotel and chartered a flight together.

[...]

Last December, the day before the Hannukah meeting at the White House, Giuliani brought Parnas as his guest to the funeral of former president George H.W. Bush.

Now, Giuliani and Parnas snipe at each other through their lawyers.

Unlike Fruman, Parnas is no longer represented by one of the President's former lawyers, John Dowd.

We can legitimately extend that last description to Congressional Republicans.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.