"Let Lev Speak"

First MSNBC and then CNN.

Lev Parnas revealed in a new interview Thursday that he agreed to speak out about President Trump's dealings with Ukraine because he felt betrayed by his former associates after being indicted.

Speaking with The Daily Beast, Parnas said he is levying new accusations and participating in interviews with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and CNN's Anderson Cooper in spite of backlash from Trump allies. He also said former associates did not defend him and were silent after he was arrested and indicted in October of last year on charges of violating campaign finance laws.

“I felt like my family left me,” he said. “Knowing everything about me, knowing that this was probably a hit job, they all just clammed up."

  The Hill

Is there no honor among thieves?

Parnas, a former associate of Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, told the Daily Beast Giuliani was one of the associates whose silence hurt him most.

[...]

Parnas also claimed in his interview that the president threatened to withhold all aid from Ukraine if it did not publicly announce an investigation into the Bidens, and also implicated other figures including Vice President Pence and Attorney General William Barr.

[...]

Trump and Pence have both issued statements since the interview saying they do not know Parnas and dismissing his allegations.

Trump and Pence need to both testify under oath.

Parnas said in an interview broadcast on Thursday that he would release a photograph with President Trump every time the president denies knowing him, adding that Trump is "lying" about their relationship.

[...]

Parnas added that he had considered Trump to be a friend, noting that he had gone from being a donor to a close friend of Giuliani to "eventually becoming his asset and his ally on the ground in Ukraine."

"I loved Trump," he said. "When the FBI came to my house, my wife felt embarrassed because they said I had a shrine to him. I had pictures all over. I idolized him. I thought he was the savior."

  The Hill

A lot of people got fooled that way.

Lev Parnas told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that former Energy Secretary Rick Perry was brought in by President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to lean on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to publicly announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

According to Parnas, Perry called Giuliani as he was on his way to attend Zelensky's inauguration in May and asked the former New York mayor what he should discuss with Zelensky.

Then after the inauguration, Parnas asserted, Perry called Giuliani again and told him that he got Zelensky to agree to announce the investigation.

  The Hill

The fact that Rick Perry was involved is backed up by testimony during the House hearings. Perry doesn't deny he talked to Rudy about Ukraine, he just says it was innocent, but he refused to testify.

While Zelensky did make an announcement about looking into corruption, the Ukrainian leader never mentioned Biden.

Parnas told Maddow that Giuliani "blew his lid" when this happened.

"It wasn't supposed to be a corruption announcement, it [had] to be about Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and Burisma," Parnas continued.

  The Hill

Of course, Rick Perry resigned.

Lev Parnas claimed in a new interview Thursday that he was visited in jail by a former attorney for President Trump who told him to cooperate and sacrifice himself for the president.

John Dowd, who once served as an attorney for Trump, briefly served as Parnas's attorney after he was indicted in October of last year for campaign finance violations.

[...]

He said during a meeting where he expected to discuss making bail, Dowd instead allegedly told him: “Be a good boy", though Parnas admitted that he doesn't remember what Dowd told him verbatim.

"I called Dowd to come there. And I started seeing in the process of the bail stuff, the way things were going on ... I didn't feel they were trying to get me out," Parnas said. "John Dowd instead of comforting me and trying to calm me down and telling me I'm going to be OK, he started talking to me like a drill sergeant."

[...]

"They tried to keep me quiet."

[...]

Trump and other top administration officials have continued to insist they do not know Parnas and Republicans have pointed to his indictment as evidence his interviews are not to be trusted.

Democrats, however, have suggested Parnas could be called as a witness in the impeachment trial, with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) saying Thursday he had not ruled the option out.

  The Hill

Is John Dowd on the list for witness testimony? Jesus, this administration is awash in criminal activity and loaded with (at best) unsavory characters.

In an interview with CNN, Parnas revealed that during a conversation in at Trump's Washington, D.C., hotel, Trump was informed by Parnas that Yovanovitch had told others that Trump would be impeached, causing the president to react angrily.

"In the conversation, the subject of Ukraine was brought up. And I told the President that our opinion that [Yovanovitch] is badmouthing him, and that she said that he's gonna get impeached, something like that. I don't know if that's word for word," Parnas said.

"[H]is reaction was, he looked at me, like, got very angry, and basically turned around to [former White House aide] John DeStefano, and said, 'Fire her. Get rid of her,'" he continued.

[...]

In an interview with MSNBC Wednesday night, Parnas explained that the only reason for her ouster was her opposition to the president and his efforts to convince Ukraine's president to launch a criminal investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden (D).

  The Hill

Another witness to be called: John DeStefano.

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