What it really means that Lev Parnas’ lawyer just quit
Donald Trump’s Ukraine scandal has become so all encompassing, it’s even making headlines on Christmas. The news just broke that Lev Parnas’ attorney Edward MacMahon is asking to withdraw from the case. Defense attorneys don’t generally bail on ongoing criminal cases, and in fact they need the judge’s approval to quit. So what’s going on here?
MacMahon’s court filing says that Lev’s “apparent ability to fund his defense has diminished.” Lev’s other attorney Joseph Bondy is remaining on the case, and he tweeted this: “This was a decision made in Mr. Parnas’s and Mr. MacMahon’s best interests. The legal strategy has not changed, and Mr. Parnas remains firmly committed to providing his evidence and testimony to Congress.”
Okay, so we’re not looking at any internal schism here, or even necessarily any change in Lev Parnas’ defense strategy. The real news here is that Lev can no longer afford to cover his legal fees. That’s remarkable, considering he received a million dollar payout from a Kremlin oligarch just a few months ago, which the Feds recently uncovered.
In general, when a defendant is faced with a mountain of incriminating evidence and is mounting a sophisticated legal defense strategy in the hope of not having to cut a plea deal, often the final straw is when the defendant runs out of money. Lev Parnas is already cooperating with Congress on impeachment, in the seeming hope of leniency from prosecutors. Now he’s signaling that he can no longer fully fund his legal defense strategy. Is a plea deal with the SDNY the next step? Stay tuned.
