Rudy Giuliani’s henchman Lev Parnas just made his move – and Donald Trump is going to hate it
Over the past week it’s become fairly apparent that prosecutors are trying to use Igor Fruman’s brother to force him to flip on Lev Parnas, who in turn would have to flip on Rudy Giuliani. Even as we’ve been waiting to see whether Fruman might cave, it appears that Parnas has read the writing on the wall, and has decided to preemptively cave on his own.
Lev Parnas now says he wants to fully cooperate with the House impeachment inquiry, including turning over documents in relation to the Ukraine scandal. Parnas is a con man so he’s not to be taken at his word; he’ll have to prove that he’s acting in good faith. But if he goes so far as to turn over documents that incriminate Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani, that’ll be of great help to the impeachment inquiry. Notably, Parnas is also making another move which suggests he’s serious about flipping.
Parnas has parted ways with his lawyer John Dowd, according to a detail buried near the bottom of a new report from Reuters. This is a huge deal, because Dowd is a longtime Trump lackey. By severing his relationship with Dowd, Parnas is essentially severing his relationship with Trump and Giuliani.
The key thing to keep in mind here is that while Lev Parnas is a con artist, he’s also desperate and at the end of his rope. He’s not naive enough to think that Donald Trump is going to pardon him, which means he’s going to prison for a very long time unless he can demonstrate to federal prosecutors that he’s willing to sell out his co-conspirators. Because the DOJ is compromised by Bill Barr, Parnas may not be able to cut a plea deal right now. But if he cooperates with the House impeachment inquiry, that could go a long way toward convincing a post-Trump DOJ to give him a favorable plea deal.
